The Woman Who Rose Again

The Story of
Grand 'Duchess "Anastasia

THE WOMAN
WHO ROSE AGAIN

By Gleb Botkin

THE REAL
ROMANOVS

At revealed by the son of the
late CxoT^t phytieian (killed
with his sovereigns)

"Gleb Botkin has every reason to
know what he is talking^about,
and he writes with a gallant ob-
jectivity that proves the sincerity
ol his purpose. . . . Reads ivith
the thrill that one attaches to the
account of an eye-witness. It does
more than entertain the minds, it
stirs the blood.”— hTeof Outlook.

THIRO EDITION— $)J)0

THE WOMAN
WHO ROSE AGAIN

DT

GLEB BOTKIN

Author ef "The Real Romanovs/' etc.

FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY

NEW YORK w LONDON . EDINBURGH

Copyright, MCMXXXVII, by
FLEMING IL REVELL COMPANY

All Hcfati reserved na part of tbli book tnar b«
reproduced Id anp form withoat penajiiioa (rtna
tbe 1 ub3is)ier« except bp a reviewer detirlnf to
Quote brief potsases for leclusioa In a notice to
M inserted la a newspaper or penodleal

New lorl. 15S Pifili Avenue
l^ndoa XI Paternoster Square

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

I N PUBLISHING The Real Romanovs, the author’s
previous work, while Grand Duchess Anastasia was
still in this country, we were convinced of the truth
of the author’s story. We also shared the opinion of
Allen W. Porterfield who wrote in The New Outlook
at the time that “American people would be interested
in not only helping to prove her identity, but to do'
something for her.”

Although there were but three chapters devoted to
her story in that book, practically all reviews and let-
ters that have come to the publisher and the author
since its publication, have been concerned with the
authenticity of that part of the author’s narrative. Con-
vinced as we were of the whole truth of the author’s
positive identification of Anastasia, we were unpre-
pared for the wealth of corroborative evidence that has
been coming to us during the years that followed, -in-
cluding a demand for more particulars regarding the
Grand Duchess and her story.

The present book aims to set down the most intimate
details regarding the author’s experiences with the
rescued daughter ofthe last Imperial Family of Rus-
sia, with documentary proof of the essential facts.
Additional evidence, consisting of letters, documents
and aiEdavits etc., in our possession would require an-
other volume, equally as large as this, to present in full.

[ 5 ]

PUBLISHER'S NOTE

This work necessarily summarizes much of the details
given in the previous book, but we believe all who read
these pages will recognize in Anastasia the character
the author seeks to portray, and that all who really
wish to be satisfied will be convinced that she not only
escaped the massacre at Ekaterinburg, but is deserving
of the sincere comfort and sympathy of the entire
world.

AUTHOR'S FOREWORD

I HAVE ■written this book about the extraordinary
and tragic case of Grand Duchess Anastasia, offi-
cially designated as Mrs. Tschaikovsky, in response
to countless enquiries on the subject addressed to nte
in the course of the last ten years.

Unfortunately, it is not possible at the present time
to give a complete and fully documented account of
that case, for it has not as yet passed into history — is
indeed expected to become the subject of litigation.
Thus in writing about it I have been hampered as much
by the laws controlling publicity — laws which regret-
tably often offer greater protection to wrongdoers than
to innocent victims of slander — as by considerations of
policy on the part of the various lawyers involved in
the case.

Even so, the cardinal facts pertaining to the Grand
Duchess’s rescue and the truly medieval cabal of which
she has become the victim, can be and are openly stated
in this book. Moreover, I personally am not a lawyer
and the value of my testimony concerning the Grand
Duchess’s identity rests chiefly on my acquaintance with
her of many years’ duration. It was twenty-nine years
ago that I first saw Anastasia — then a child of seven.
It was in May, 1918, that I saw her for the last time
before the Ekaterinburg massacre. Also, the question
asked me most often is:

[7]

AUTHOR’S FORETf'^ORD

“What makes you so certain that Mrs. Tschaikovsky
is actually Grand Duchess Anastasia?”

That latter question, I believe, my present book
answers fully.

That there exists so much scepticism in regard to the
Grand Duchess’s identity is only natural. To begin
with, her enemies, while lacking all evidence in support
of their contentions, did not lack ingenuity in their
manner of stating those contentions. For instance.
Grand Duke Alexander declared in one of his state-
ments that he could not believe Mrs. Tschaikovsky to
be Grand Duchess Anastasia, because the latter had
never had brown hair and did not speak Lithuanian.

Well, it so happens that Mrs. Tschaikovsky’s hair is
not brown but blond, and she does not know a word of
Lithuanian. But how can the average newspaper
reader know that? He reads Grand Duke Alexander’s
statement and is convinced by the seemingly weighty
argument it contains.

Furthermore, the story of Grand Duchess Anastasia’s
rescue and subsequent trials is admittedly an extraor-
dinary one; and many of us are either unwilling or
afraid to believe in extraordinary things. In actual
fact, however, we are faced with a much more extraor-
dinary situation the moment we assume that Mrs.
Tschaikovsky is an impostor. I hope that my present
account, in spite of its limitations, will cause the reader
to agree with the statexoeat made ten years a^o by my
cousin, Sergius Botkin, that Mrs. Tschaikovsky is
either Grand Duchess Anastasia or a miracle.

The events of the last ten years, described in this
book, have only added weight to that statement. In
[ 8 ]

AUTHOR'S FOREfFORD

truth, were Mrs. Tschaikovsky an impostor, not only
would she herself be a miracle, but her whole case
would defy all rational explanation.

Incidentally, I owe an apology to the readers of my
book The Real Romanovs in which the case of Grand
Duchess 'Anastasia was briefly mentioned. In that
earlier account I stated that Anastasia was rescued from
the forest to which the bodies of the victims were taken
for cremation. Such a theory actually existed, and I
have made the very error against which I am now
warning my readers, that is, chosen a theory which
appeared more probable at first glance; for it would
have been easier to rescue the Grand Duchess from the
forest than from the house of the murder.

Yet, further study of all available evidence has con-
vinced me that it was not from the forest but from the
house that Anastasia was rescued. And having reached
that conclusion, purely on the basis of existing evidence,
I realised that it was not only the less fantastic but the
only possible theory, if only for the reason that, taken
to the forest, Anastasia would have bled to death before
anybody would have been able to smuggle her out to
safety.

I hope that my readers will, in like manner, give
preference to logical deductions from the evidence I
am offering them rather than to preconceived notions
based on ostensible probabilities. Should they do so
they will, perhaps, also accept my own verdict that
Mrs. Tschaikovsky is Grand Duchess Anastasia as
not only the more probable but indeed the only possible
one.

Paradoxically enough, I have found that the popular

[9]

AUTHOR*S FOREJVORD

hatred of injustice has also served as a cause for the
wide-spread disbelief in Anastasia’s identity. I am not
saying this in any sarcastic sense. Most people do hate
to see some grave injustice committed and feel it their
duty to do something about it. At the same time the
vast majority have so many cares of their own that they
prefer not to worry about other people, if they can
help it

Often enough we can escape that unpleasant necessity
by assuming that the sufferers in our midst either do
not suffer as badly as they themselves, or their friends,
claim, or else have fully deserved their suffering. In
the present case, it is so much simpler to say, “Oh, that
Mrs. Tschaikovsky is just another impostor,” and thus
feel free of any obligation of going to her assistance,
than to start worrying about her and perhaps be actually
drawn into her case.

To those of my readers who belong to that latter
category, I should like to point out that they can be of
real help to the unfortunate Grand Duchess Anastasia
without doing anything except admitting without fear
the fact of her identity. The opinion of each of us
constitutes a part of what is known as public opinion
and the force of public opinion is great. Many a wrong
has been righted by that force alone.

G. B.

fVett Hempstead,

Long Island, N. Y.

CAST OF ROYAL CHARACTERS

WITH A BRIEF EXPBANATION OP THEIR FAMILY RELATIONSHIP

Nicholas I, Evjperor of Ruwa from 182$ to 2855
Empress Alerandea, mfl of Nicholas I and daitshler of King
Frcdenct WtlUam III of Prussia

Alerander II, Emperor of Russia from 2835 to 1882, first eouttn
of Emperor mil, am I, the Great, of Germang
Empress Marie, vnfe of Alexander II, horn a Princess of Hessen
Darmstadt

AleranbER III, Emperor of Russia from sPSs to 2834
Empress Marie, mfe of Alexander III, hom Princess Dagmar of
Denmarh, referred to in this hook as the Empress Dowager, su
ter of King Fredench PHI of Denmarh King George I of Greece
and Queen Alexandra of England, mother of Emperor N,cho-
latll

Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia from iSgg to rgsg, first cousin of
King George V of England

Empress Alerandra, wife of Nicholas II, horn a Princess of Hes
sen Darmstadt, granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England,
first cousin of Emperor tVdlmm II of Germans
CzAREVICK Aleris, only SOU and heir of Emperor Nicholas II
Grand Dutdiesscs Olca "j

Tatiana [jjughlers of Nicholas II

Marie 1

ANASTASIA]

The JVoman JFho Rose Again

Grand Duchessts ^^Xsislers of Nicholas II, aunts of Anastasus
Olga J

Grand Duke Alexander husband of Grand Duchess Xenia,
grandson of Nicholas J, author of "Once a Grand Duke! etc
Princess Xenia, former Mrs W tlltam B Leeds, a great grand
daughter of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, granddaughter of
King George I of Greece, rnece of Grand Duke Alexander, see

C/IST OF ROYAL CHARACTERS

ond couttn of Lmptror Nicholas II on her father's side end sec
ond cousin of Grand Duchess Anastasia on her mothe/s side
Grand Duka Cyril sons of Grand Duke Vladimir, grand
Boris rsons of Alexander II, first cousins of
AndrewJ Nicholas II.

Grand Duke Nicholas, Russian Commander in Chief at the he
ginning of the JVorld JVar, grandson of Nicholas I, first couttn,
once removed, of Nicholas II

Grand Duchess Anastasia, ttnfe of Grand Duke Nicholas, daugh
ter of King Nicholas I of Montenegro, sister of the present Queen
of Italy

Grand Duchess Marie, daughter of Grand Duke Paul, grand
daughter of Alexander II, first cousin of Nicholas II, author of
"The Education of a Princess"

Prince George Romanovsky, Duke of Leuchtenberg, great grand
son of Napoleon's step son, Eugene de Beauhamait and of Em
Peror Nicholas I of Russia, second cousin of Nicholas II
Ernst Ludwig, Grand Duke of Hessen Darmstadt, brother of Em
press Alexandra of Russia, uncle of Grand Duchess Anastasia
Princess Irene of Prussu, sister of Empress Alexandra of Russia
sitter-in lata of Emperor IFtHiam II of Germany, aunt and god
mother of Grand Duchess Anastasia
Prince Waloemar of Denmark, brother of Empress Mane of Rus
sia and Queen Alexandra of England
Crown Prince Frederick Whxiam, son of Emperor JVtlliam II
of Germany

Prince Christopher of Greece, son of King George I of Greece,
first cousin of Nicholas ll of Russia uncle of Pnncess Xenia and
step father of Xenia's farmer husband, fViUiam B Leeds
Prince Ernst Frederick of Saxe Altenhurg, cousin of Grand
Duchess Constantine of Russia, couim of Grand Duke Ernst
Ludwig of Hessen Darmstadt

[II]

CONTENTS

Pubiisher’s Note .....
Author’s Foreword ....
Cast of Royal Characters .

I. The Meeting

IL Seeon Castle

III. A Dilemma

IV. Conclusive Evidence . . .

V. Further Difficulties . . .

VI. Arrival in the United States

VII. In Hiding from Reporters .

VIII. With Miss Jennings ....

IX. Oyster Bay

X. In the Nick of Time . . .

XI. Leaving Xenia

KIL The Signed Statement . . .
XIII. Secrets of Russian Royalty .

Index

PAGE

5

7

II

U

37

63

84

lao

143

170

191

216

236

265

281

299

329

ILLUSTRATIONS

Grand Duchess Anastasia As She Is Today Frontispiece

FACING

PAGE

Aboard the Imperial Yacht a6

After Her Critical Illness 26

Bridge Over the Landwehr Canal

Insert, Anastasia 38

The Emperor and Empress

Insert, Head of Anastasia 46

The Author’s Animal Drawings

The Emperor and Tatiana in Tobolsk

A Study of Anastasia at Various Ages 148

Three Generations of Botkins 302

The Emperor with Dr. Botkin and Captain Drenteln
in Gematiy

[>5]

1

THE MEETING

F or nine years I had believed — nay, known — her
to be dead. And now sbe stood before me. Her
luminous blue eyes looked straight into mine
and her small beautiful hand, with long tapering
fingers, was approaching my lips in that almost auto-
matic gesture of hers I knew so well. So had her hand
approached my lips the very first time we met, for,
although we were but children then, and she by
eleven months my junior, she was a Grand Duchess —
the daughter of my Emperor— and I a hereditary
Nobleman of the Russian Empire. And so we were
both observant of etiquette.

“Anastasia 1”

They were all lovely beyond words, the four daugh-
ters of Emperor Nicholas H — Olga, Tatiana, Marie,
and Anastasia One day each of them picked a flower
and gave it to my father; and my father put the four
flowers together and took them to a jeweller who made
an exact facsimile of them in coloured enamel. The
jeweller had surpassed himself and his reproduction
looked as real as if the actual flowers had mysteriously
hardened into a solid ornament.

“What better symbol of the Grand Duchesses could
there be than those flowers?” Father said often. “For
they are, in truth, like beautiful flowers.”

[17]

THE MEETING

And so they were. Nor would I have dared to admit
to anyone that I was more devoted to one than to the
other of the four sisters. But in actual fact it was Anas-
tasia — “the Little One” as everybody called her — ^who
was the dearest to me. She was almost my own age and
I saw more of her than the others. We seemed to have
many interests and ideas in common and she was always
sparkling with such delightfuL'Wschief and doing
things in such an unexpected artd amazingly funny
manner.

Once, when I drew for her the picture of a little
brown she-bear in a blue skirt, trying to steal a pot of
honey from her mother’s pantry, Anastasia exclaimed:

“Fiel What a lovely little atrocity! But I hate
sneaks ! Do have her punished I Let that pot of honey
turn over on her head and gum up all her furl”

And so it happened and the lovely little atrocity was
duly punished for her misdeeds.

Did Anastasia herself never deserve punishment?
On the contrary, she undoubtedly held the record for
punishable deeds in her family, for in naughtiness she
was a true genius. Only she always perpetrated her
crimes in the presence of many witnesses, which really
made them the w’orse. But then Anastasia hated sneaks
and had never been one herself.

To say that the Grand Duchesses were beautiful, in
the classical sense, would not be true. Their features
did not possess the perfect regularity prescribed by the
Greeks. But attractive — one is tempted to say, be-
witching — they certainly were; and they all possessed
that indefinable charm of personality and manner
which is so much more important than classical beaut}'.
[18]

THE MEETING

They had both grace and graciousness, rare even in
those days of polite demeanor and courtly etiquette.

The discipline in the Imperial Family vras much
stricter than in most families, even of the aristocracy.

I had been taught from my earliest childhood that few
things ate so unattractive, especially in children and
youths, as a slovenly bearing. In daytime I hardly
dared to look at beds, couches, and other furniture
meant for physical relaxation; it was only ailing ladies
or very old people, so I was told, who could permit
themselves to lie down or recline in the middle of the
day. Young people were supposed to stand erect and
sit upright, keep their arms and legs in place, and
otherwise attract no attention to themselves — especially
unfavourable. ■

I obeyed all such rules as best I could, and among
our other friends had no cause for feeling at all
ashamed of my manners. But among the children of
the Sovereigns I became immediately and painfully
aware of my own awkwardness and lack of proper
training.

They always held themselves as erect as soldiers on
parade. 'When seated they would never recline against
the back of the chair or cross their legs, as I was wont
to do. Nor would they allow their arms to dangle as
many of us did, but always held them in position with
their hands joined on their laps. Yet they never ap-
peared strained, artificial, or in the least affected. Their
poses, their movements, their gestures were natural and
free as though innate, which indeed they were. Be-
sides, they had been trained from so early an age that

[ * 9 ]

THE MEETING

even their acquired manners had become second nature
to them

They had also been brought up in the clear under-
standing that such homage and respect, as was rendered
them was due to their status as children of the Em-
peror and not merely as persons; and because of their
status they had to be particularly careful not to give
offence to other people. In consequence, they utterly
lacked the silly airs common to people who imagine
that their dignity would suffer from a friendly and
natural attitude towards their inferiors Dignified
they were — extremely so— but with a dignity com-
pletely unconscious, and for this very reason the more
impressive

Indeed, their modest> was at times excessne and led
to embarrissing incidents I remember the disappoint-
ment of my eldest brother, Dimitny, after his first ball
in his new capacity as Chamber Page He had hoped
so much to dance with the Grand Duchesses, but they
had gi\ en no indication that they wanted to dance with
him and he had not dared to invite them And on the
following morning Grand Duchess Olga said to my
father:

“I was waiting for Dimitny to invite me for a dance,
but he didn’t; and he dances so well ”

I have never heard an> of them make a direct re
quest Thc> knew that to the members of their entou-
rage their requests meant commands, and they did not
want to give commands They had, therefore, the
habit of asking for things m a most indirect vvaj, as if
expressing an abstract and rather timid hope Often
enough the person to whom the request happened to be
[ao]

THE MEETING

addressed, failed to guess that it was through him that
such a hope was expected to materialize.

The only thing which disconcerted me at the begin-
ning of my acquaintance with the Sovereigns’ children,
was their manner of speech. The Emperor himself
spoke very clear and correct Russian. The Empress
had a good command of the language, but aside from a
distinct accent, she spoke it with a rigidity and careful
choice of expressions that instantly betrayed her for-
eign birth.

But the Grand Duchesses and the Czarevich spoke
not only fluently but so rapidly that at first I was
hardly able to understand them. In addition to this,
they had an accent which seemed English when they
spoke in Russian and Russian when they spoke in Eng-
lish, and in actual fact was an accent quite their own.
Neither before nor since have I ever heard anybody
talk with that strange and charming accent. In time,
however, I became quite accustomed to it Their
voices were very musical — ^voices clearly meant for
singing ; indeed, they all liked to sing, especially Ta-
tiana and Anastasia.

The Czarevich Alexis was a person apart from the
rest, even in the eyes of his own sisters. To begin with,
be was the future Emperor, a fact which he himself
seemed to realise fully. His sisters certainly did.
They were not even allowed to call him other than by
his full first name “Alexei” because, as father explained
to me, the Emperor had found his own family nick-
name, “Niki,” a cause of much embarrassment in his
mature years. It had even become a not insignificant
weapon in the hands of the revolutionaries, who con-

[21]

THE MEETING

cocted many silly stories about “Niki” and “Willy,”
meaning the Russian and German Emperors.

Personally, too, Alexis required special attention and
care because of his hemophilia, which caused him
such frequent terrible pains and kept him in bed for
weeks at a stretch. Both in the Imperial Family and
among the courtiers there seemed to exist a sort of cult
of the little Alexis, born out of a combination of the re-
spect for his position and pity for his suffering. Be-
sides, he also had a rare charm, and in spite of his
illness he was an exceptionally handsome, intelligent,
and vivacious boy. While I fully shared the general
devotion to him, his manners seemed to me consider-
ably worse than those of his sisters and his restlessness
rather depressing.

As for the four Grand Duchesses, they were indeed
like lovely flowers, but there was something about the
smallest of the four flowers that gave it a particularly
irresistible fascination.

This was not due to her beauty, for Anastasia was
less beautiful than her sisters. She was small in size
and her features were irregular. Her nose was rather
long and her mouth quite wide. She had a small
straight chin which lacked almost entirely the usual
curve under the lower lip. But her eyes — blue, lumi-
nous eyes, always sparkling with humour — ^werc truly
beautiful.

It was from her father that she had inherited those
eyes. I have never met a person, who was introduced to
the Emperor for the first time, who did not immedi-
ately comment on the beauty of his eyes. Lovely too
was Anastasia’s hair — blond with a slightly reddish
[22]

THE MEETING

lustre, wavy and soft as silk. In childhood she wore
it loose, with a large rihhon perched on the top of her
head, which looked like a giant butterfly just ready to
fly away.

At first glance she impressed one as a picture of in-
nocence and model behaviour. Very strait-laced and
prim she appeared when she entered the room, holding
herself as erect as all her sisters did, her head slightly
bent forward, a very grave expression in her blue eyes.
But usually, the more serious she looked, the more cer-
tain it was that some mischievous idea was brewing in
her head, and in a few minutes the fun would begin.

It was through the game of tick-tack-toe that I won
for the first time Anastasia’s approval, indeed, respect.
I had just been introduced to her when she asked me :
“Do you play tick-tack-toe?”

“I do, Your Imperial Highness,” I answered.

“Then let us play,” she said. “You could never win
a game from me.”

“Why not?” I enquired, although strictly speaking,
one was not supposed to put any questions to Imperial
personages.

“Because I have a system,” Anastasia said gravely.
“Nobody can win a game of tick-tack-toe from me.”

“I shall be glad to try,” I said.

She did have a system— a very good system, in fact,
and I lost two or three games; but at the same time 1
understood the system. It was good, but not perfect
and I quickly devised a counter-system which made it
inoperative. Anastasia was quite bewildered. She
shook her head, verified every move and kept playing
game after game, but could no longer achieve anything

[23]

THE MEETING

better than a tie. She was, however, a good loser and
quite as ready to laugh at herself as at others. Thus
she not only admitted that her system had failed, but
when her sister, Marie, in her turn, invited me to play
tick-tack-toe, she said with solemnity:

“Beware, Marie 1 For he plays well!”

Then there were my animal drawings. Anastasia
had known them long before we had actually met, for
father often used to take my pictures to the palace.
She liked them very much and now wanted to see how
I made them.

But technical problems could not hold her attention
for long. While Marie continued to work hard in an
effort to copy one of my bears, Anastasia became en-
grossed in the story^which my pictures illustrated and
proceeded to develop it further, in her own way. But
I must confess that as an author she did not impress me
very much. The story, as she developed it, was funny
enough, but it also became more absurd ; while my own
literary ambitions were always of a serious nature.

Even so, my drawings remained a common source of
interest for Anastasia and myself, not only because they
were funny and Anastasia loved everything funny, but
also because my animals were always dressed in mili-
tary uniforms. Anastasia adored uniforms. It pleased
her particularly that my uniforms, whether real or im-
aginary, were always true to form and consistent. She
prided herself on her knowledge of all the technical
terms for the many complicated military insignia, and
the exact manner in which the different weapons, dec-
orations, and other paraphernalia were to be worn. It
so happened that I was equally interested and well in-

[24]

THB MEETING

formed on the subject, so that no matter how she tried,
Anastasia could not catch me in any mistake. But in-
stead of being disappointed, she felt the greater respect
for my erudition.

But to trick me in some way she never ceased trying.
Once, when playing hide and seek, Anastasia an-
nounced that she had found a place where I would
never be able to find her. She actually hid herself
deverly enough, behind a heavy curtain, its folds ar-
ranged in a manner which entirely concealed her pres-
ence, but she had failed to notice that the curtain did
not quite reach the floor. I saw the tip of her. white
shoe and began to laugh.

“I don’t even have to look for you,” I called to her.
“You ate standing behind that curtain 1”

She burst into laughter and admitted her defeat, but
asked me to tell her how I had discovered her hiding
place so easily.

“Because you don’t know how to hide properly,” I
began to tease her. “I could see your shoe under the
curtain.”

“I shall hide again and you will not find me this
timel” Anastasia declared.

I closed my eyes and waited for the appointed length
of time, but no sooner did I open them and look around
■ftrt:-room,‘fiianYsaw,unt,'eTOure, JinaStas'ia’ s shoe under
the curtain.

“Oh, I can see your shoe again,” I said. “This is no '
way to hide. You are behind that curtain.”

, But Anastasia did not burst into laughter nor come
out of her hiding place. I ran towards the curtain and
pulled it aside. The shoe was there, but not Anastasia

THE MEETING

And then I heard her laugh behind the door where
presently I found her standing on one foot so as not to
soil her white stocking. I hastened to bring the shoe
and she graciously allowed me to put it back on her
foot, while continuing to shake with laughter and tell
me how very easy it was to fool me.

The theory of so many modern educators that a strict
upbringing and insistence on good manners serves to
make the child a victim of repression could find no
confirmation in the Emperor’s children. In spite of the
perfection of their manners and bearing, they were not
only very gay and full of mischief, but wont to indulge
in games which to me seemed decidedly dangerous,
such for instance, as rolling down the stairs in a wooden
boat. Anastasia and the Czarevich, especially, were
fond of such exploits and seemed always attracted by
the highest pieces of furniture from which they were
most likely to crash.

In my father’s stateroom w'here we often played
while on the Imperial yacht there was an electric
s^vitch placed for some strange reason almost under
the very ceiling and very hard to turn on. One day at
the request of father, who happened to be ill, I at-
tempted to turn on that switch, but found it quite im-
possible, the more so because in order to reach it I had
to climb on a chair and was afraid to lose^my balance.

Anastasia began to tease me as usual and declared
that she certainly could turn on that switch. I begged
her in vain not to try. She could not reach that switch,
even standing on a chair. But she engaged Marie’s
help and Marie climbed on the chair and Anastasia
climbed on Marie. I stood frozen with horror and
[263

THE MEETING

then it naturally happened. A moment later I felt as if
the whole world was crashing about my head, and the
daughters of my Hmperor — of whom there appeared to
he a dozen, rather than only two— were falling on me
from all sides.

The thought of letting them fall to the floor seemed
intolerable and so I tried to catch them both or was
it they who caught me? I attempted to support hdarie
with one arm and Anastasia with the other, and hold
the chair with my foot. But Marie was quite heavy
and Anastasia’s silky hair got into my eyes, my nose,
and my mouth, and nothing it seemed could keep the
chair in place.

Even so, I must have absorbed the shock to some ex-
tent, for when we finally got disentangled nobody ap-
peared hurt, and Marie and Anastasia were bursting
with laughter, while I had the satisfaction of pointing
out to Anastasia that she had boasted in vain of her
ability to turn on that switch.

It was during the same illness of my father, on board
the Imperial yacht, that the Empress came daily to his
stateroom, to be examined by him,, A few minutes
before Her Majesty’s visit I always helped father to
wash his hands. Father had a peculiar wash bowl
made of glass, and whenever I brought it out Anastasia
began to laugh and assure me that it was not a wash
bowl but a container for curdled milk. In fact, curdled
milk — one of the favourite Russian dishes — ^was usu-
ally served in glass bowls.

At this time the Imperial yacht lay at anchor in the
Bay of Sebastopol. The day after my sister and I had

[27]

THE MELTING

left the town, Anastasia appeared at the proper hour
m father’s stateroom and asked
“Where is your curdled milk container? It is time
for you to wash >our hands and now that Gleb is gone
I am m charge of the curdled milk container”

Father protested in \ain that he would never let her
perform such menial services for him Anastasia
found the curdled milk container and helped father
wash his hands, ]ust as she had seen me do it, and cut
father’s continued protestations short with the retort
“If Gleb can do it for you, why can’t I?”

Like her mother and sisters, Anastasia was very skil
ful at embroidery, and one of my most cherished pos
sessions was a long runner she had made for me of ecru
linen, embroidered with blue dowers on black stems
1 kept that runner on a mahogany stand for my icons
and crucifixes, of which I had quite a collection, and
felt not a little proud whenever some of our friends be
gan to admire it and wonder who could have made such
a lovely piece pf work They were much astonished
when informed that it was the work of the little Anas
tasia

But if Anastasia was a talented, indeed, a brilliant
child, a good scholar she was not She did well only
the things which interested her, and her impish dispo
sition made her lose interest in things which she was
compelled to do

Even so, her teachers appeared to be as much under
her spell as virtually everybody at the Court was But
no teacher surpassed Mr Petrov, the teacher of Rus
Sian, in his tender devotion to all the Emperor’s chil
dren and especially to the Czarevich and Anastasia
[28]

THE MEETING

He fairly -worshipped his pupils; yet it was he who
once became the victim of a joke on his pupil s part,
which was not without a touch of cruelty.

Mr. Petrov was a very sentimental gentleman, of me-
dium height, plump, with a round face, round eyes,
round nose, round mouth and curly grey hair. His neat
rotundity had earned him the nickname “Pompon. As
a high official of the Educational Department of ffie
Ministry of War, he was always dressed in a peculiar
semi-military costume and had a dark blue overcoat
with red lining and silver buttons. Altogether he was
a very charming, yet somewhat comical personage.

One day, on his way to the palace, Mr. Petrov
slipped and sat down heavily in the middle of a big
puddle. It must have been a very funny sight, and a
young lady who happened to pass him at the moment,
found herself unable to suppress a giggle. Highly in-
censed, the usually good natured *‘Pompon shouted
to the young lady: “Fooll”

By the time he reached the palace,- however, Mr.
Petrov’s anger had passed. And the more he thought
of it the more he regretted his rudeness to a lady, who
according to him was not only young but also very
beautiful. He related the incident to the Grand
Duchesses, and reproached himself so bitterly that they
began to console him. After all, they said, the lady
should not have laughed at him and no doubt realised
herself that he had every reason to call her a fool. The
Grand Duchesses even expressed the opinion that if
the lady was a real lady she would certainly find out
who Mr. Petrov was and offer him some kind of apol-

[29]

THE MEETING

ogy, which would enable him to apologise to her in
his turn.

A day or so later, while leaving his house in the
morning, Mr. Petrov was greatly surprised to find a
beautiful bouquet of flowers on his doorstep. He
looked in vain for a card or any sign of identification.
But on the following morning he received another bou-
quet; and every morning thereafter the flowers ap-
peared m3^tcriousIy at his door.

Still obsessed with the thought of the beautiful
young lady, whom he had called a fool, Mr. Petrov
began to wonder whether those bouquets did not rep-
resent a fragrant, if anonymous, apology on her part.
Again he consulted the Grand Duchesses, and they all
said that his guess was undoubtedly correct. Had they
not toid him that the lady would try to apologise to
him in some way?

And then the fatal thing happened: the “Pompon”
fell in love. He walked about with a beatific smile and
could no longer talk of anything but the lady who was
sending him such wonderful flowers, and the day, he -
felt certain would come, when she would finally dis-
close her identity to him. But he waited in vain for
that day. The bouquets continued to arrive every
morning, but none of them contained the slightest clue
as to the sender.

Finally, Mr. Petrov could stand the strain no longer.
The flowers were always brought to his door in the
small hours of the morning while he was still sound
asleep. One night he decided not to sleep ; he seated
himself behind the entrance door and waited for hours.
At last he heard footsteps approaching his door. He

C30]

the meeting

threw the door open and, just as he had expected, he
saw a gardener holding the usual bouquet.

“■Where do these flowers come from? Mr. Petrov

shouted. , , •

“Delivered to Your Excellency on orders of Iheir
Imperial Highnesses the Grand Duchessesl" the gar-
dener reported.

The poor “Pompon” looked quite crestfallen for sev-
cral days after that discovery of his flowers’ origin.
But he did have a good sense of humour and could not
help laughing at himself. Besides, he was quite unable
to bear a grudge against his adored pupils for long.

Whether that particular joke had originated in Anas-
tasia’s fertile mind I do not know, but it easily might

have. ... . ■

My own relations with Anastasia in those days were
uniformly pleasant. But while we saw the Grand
Duchesses in the streets and in the park virtually every
day, often attended the same church, met them at
parades, bazaars and other public functions, it was not
very often — and only in the Crimea that we played
with them. Those occasions were sufficiently infre-
quent for Anastasia to be always pleased to see us, the
more so because she had only very few playmates.

But from the occupants of the palace we knew that
Anastasia was not only the naughtiest, but also the most
temperamental of the four Grand Duchesses. Indeed,
she was quite autocratic and at times difficult to handle,
especially because of all the members of her family she
seemed the least interested in what outsiders would
think of her; also, she completely lacked the ability of
assuming special manners for a given occasion. She

[31]

THE MEETING

was always her own natural self, incapable of any pre-
tence, and therefore quite likely to fly into a temper or
perform some fantastic prank at the most inopportune
moment.

By the same token, however, she never attempted to
conceal her joys and affections. Altogether, it would
have been difficult to imagine a more lovable and
wholly natural child than that little Princess, who
romped through the ancient palaces of the Russian
Emperors, like a gay sunbeam, spreading laughter and
good cheer wherever she went. How many times have
I seen some solemn courtier suddenly lose all his solem-
nity and burst into laughter with the e.vclaraation:

“No, but Anastasia Nikolaevna is truly inimitable I
Just imagine what she did to-day. . . And then he
would give a report of Anastasia’s latest deed or re-
partee.

It happens so often that fate ironically places the
wrong person in a given position. So many people born
to wealth do not know what to do with it; so many peo-
ple born to power do not know how to use it; so many
princes look and behave like truck drivers; so many
sensitive and gifted human beings have to slave at
stupid and brutalising Jobs.

By contrast, no person could belter fit the position of
a princess than did Grand Duchess Anastasia. She was
at once so very human and so unconsciously regal. She
possessed auch. an inexhaustible joy of life,, such a keen
sense of humour, such a genius for delighting people
with her brilliant wit and spontaneous kindness. To
such a person who could ever begrudge the power and
wealth that a daughter of the Russian Emperor yvas ex-
[ 32 ]

THE MEETING

pected to enjoy? Who could doubt that she would
make the best possible use of them and go through Ufe,
always happy herself, always giving happiness to those

around her? . . ,

But the happy life to which Anastasia seemed pre-
destined was never to become hers. She was only thir-
teen years old when the war broke out In a few weefe
nothing remained of the splendour and gaiety o e
Imperial Court Instead of attending balls, parades
and other brilliant functions, society ladies including
the Empress and her two eldest daughters, were now
working in hospitals as plain nurses. Marie and Anas-
tasia, too young for such work, were made patronesses
of a small hospital. They also gave much of their time
to the various charitable activities necessitated by the
war.

Anastasia took her new duties seriously, worked hard
and seemed quite proud of her newly acquired useful-
ness. But such work could hardly be called amusing
and brought her in touch with much suffering and
misery to which she could not remain indifferent.

In the Imperial residence there hardly remained a
single family which had not lost one or several of its_
members. News from the front was seldom consoling.
Dissatisfaction with the existing regime grew steadily
and soon even the Emperor’s nearest relatives began to
intrigue against him. And Anastasia was no longer a
small child. She knew and understood a great deal,

■ she realised how heavy a burden her parents were
carrying, how greatly they were worried. She could
not ignore the heavy cloud that hung over her father’s

[33]

THE MEETING

Empire, the stonn that was gathering around his very
palace.

It was tlic joy of life that Anastasia craved, but there
was little joy in the world in those da}'S. Yet how nor*
mal — almost pleasant — they appeared to us all later,
in retrospect, after we had been engulfed by the new
and incomparably greater horror of the revolution.
Nor could the suffering of anybody at that time com-
pare with the suffering of the Sovereigns and their
children.

Then it was that the Grand Duchesses showed that
they were much more than four lovely flowers. Their
patience, courage, and self-control, their constant ef-
forts to help their parents forget, if only for a few
moments, the nightmare of their new existence, re-
vealed in those charming girls a true greatness, bewil-
dering even to the people most devoted to them.

“This evening again,” father would oiten tell me in
the days of our Siberian exile, “I heard the Grand
Duchesses whisper to one another: ‘Papa is very sad.
We have to cheer him up.* ”

The Empress’s lady-in-waiting, Baroness Buxhoe-
veden, writes in her memoirs that during the first
period of their exile in Tobolsk the Grand Duchesses
did not seem to realise the great danger they were in
and even staged plays, Anastasia in particular revealing
a great talent for comedy.

I am inclined to believe that it was the good Baron-
ess who failed to realise what indomitable courage the
daughters of her Sovereigns possessed. They knew
only too well what danger they were in, and Anastasia’s
ingenious comedies, which time and again made even
[ 34 ]

THE MEETING ‘

the Empress, in spite of the dreadful reality, laugh
herself to tears, reached the very height of heroism.

In the spring of 1918, first Their Majesties, Grand
Duchess Marie, Prince Dolgoroukov and my father,
then the Czarevich with his three sisters and several
members of the suite, were transferred to Ekaterinburg,
while my sister and I were left in Tobolsk.

On the eve of the Grand Duchess’ departure I went
past their house, in the hope that some of them might be
standing at the window. And indeed, Anastasia stood
by the window and seeing me began to smile and wave
her hand. And I took off my cap and bowed to her,
which so infuriated the bolshevik sentries that they
started shooting at me. It was lucky that they were
very poor shots.

It was the last time I saw Anastasia in Siberia. And
to see her thus, alone, surrounded by a gang of drunken
cutthroats, was well-nigh unendurable. What miracle,
I wondered, could now save her and her whole family
from a fate I hardly dared to picture.

And for nine years thereafter I believed with all the
certainty of knowledge that no miracle had saved any
of them. I was convinced that on the tragic night of
July 17, 1918, not only the Sovereigns, Czarevich
Alexis, and my father, but also all the four Grand
Duchesses had been killed and their bodies cremated in
a forest.

But as I was to discover eventually, one miracle did
occur on the night of July 17. When the bodies of the
victims were being removed from the cellar where the
massacre had taken place, one of the soldiers noticed

[35]

SEEON CASTLE

For many months Anastasia remained critically ill
in consequence of her wounds, regaining complete con-
sciousness for only short periods of time. When her
health began to improve she discovered with horror
that she was pregnant. Alexander Tschaikovsky hav-
ing confessed his guilt, Anastasia demanded that he
'marry her, and he did take her to some religious cere-
mony in a Roman Catholic church, which may or raaj
^not have been a wedding. Anastasia’s chifd— a son —
was placed by the Tschaikovskys in an orphan asylum.

Shortly after his supposed wedding, Alexander
Tschaikovsky was killed in the streets'of Bucharest and
the Grand Duchess asked his companion, Sergei, to
take her to Germany where she hoped to find'her god-
mother, Princess Irene of Prussia. After many hard-
ships and misadventures — for they had no passports
and had to cross, every frontier on foot — ^Anastasia
and Sergei Tschaikovsky reached Berlin on February
i6, i^ao. " On the following night, in/a mood of des-j
pondency, the Grand Duchess left by hotel and after
wandering through the city threw herself, or fell, into
the Landwehr Canal.

Rescued by the police, she was taken to a hospital
and as soon as she regained consciousness, was sub-
jected to a rigorous examination. Having lived for
nineteen months in constant dread of capture by the
bolsheviks, Anastasia refused to answer a single ques-
tion and in consequence was transferred to a mental
institution in Dalldorf. There she remained in a pub-,
lie ward with some twenty mental cases for two and a^
half years. . I

As soon as sh*e was strong enough Anastasia wrote

[38]

THE MEETING

that Anastasia was still alive and succeeded in smug-
gling her out to safety.

To safety — yes, if a life of utter misery, suffering,
humiliation and persecution, in short, a life of unre-
lieved martyrdom, could be called a life of safety. Yet,
on that day in May 1927, when Grand Duchess Ana-
stasia in flesh and blood stood once more before me and
brought her hand to my lips, I could at first think of
nothing except that she whom I had believed — nay,
known — to be dead, was alive; that I could again see,
her and touch her and hear her voice and look into her
blue, luminous eyes; that a miracle had saved her —
our beloved “Little One.”

“The woman who rose again” — for such is the Greek
meaning of the name Anastasia — who in the days of the
Grand Duchess’s happy childhood had ever suspected
what a prophecy her name contained?

n

SEEON CASTLE

M y first meeting with Grand Duchess Anas-
tasia after her reappearance among the
living took place in the Bavarian castle,
‘Seeon, where she was staying at the time as the guest
of Duke George of Leuchtenherg. Like the proverbial
fool who tushes in where angels fear to tread, I had
arrived at a time when the storm of intrigues of which
the unfortunate Grand Duchess was the unwitting
cause and victim reached a new climax with the at-
tempt to prove that she was a demented Polish peasant,
Francisca Schanzkovska by name.

While I myself have gained a complete picture of
them only gradually, Anastasia’s experiences; up to the
time of my meeting with her in Castle Seeon, may be
summarised as follows:

The soldier to whom the Grand Duchess owed her
life was a Pole from the vicinity of Ekaterinburg
known to us under the assumed name of Alexander
Tschaikovsky. Helped by one Sergei, supposedly his
brother, who served in the same detachment, Tschai-
kovsky carried the unconscious Anastasia to his home
and, taking along two women— presumably his mother
and sister— fled from Ekaterinburg in a peasant cart
After a journey of about four and a half months the
Tschaikovskys finally crossed the Roumanian front'
and settled in Bucharest.

C37]

SEEON CASTLE

a letter in- English to her godmother, Princess Irene,
but the doctor never mailed it. One of the nurses, how-
ever, who happened to be a Russian, recognised in
Anastasia a daughter of her Emperor, and to her Anas-
tasia admitted her identity in strictest secrecy. Then
another Russian woman recognised her and the police
who kept investigating the identity of Miss Unknown
— as Anastasia had been registered in Dalldorf — also
arrived at the conclusion that she was actually Grand
DuchesiAnastasia of Russia.

Rumours began to spread and soon reached Copen-
hagen, where the Russian Dowager Empress, Marie,
lived at the time with her youngest daughter. Grand
Duchess Olga. Through some mistake, the informa-
tion which reached Copenhagen was to the effect that
not Anastasia, but Tatiana was languishing in Dall-
dorf. Baroness Bu.vhoeveden was sent from Copen-
hagen to investigate. She dragged Anastasia rudely
out of her bed, declared, “She is too short for Tatiana,”
and returned to Copenhagen.

Shortly aftenvards a Mrs. Zinaida Tolstoy, who had
known the Emperor’s children intimately, also went to
Dalldorf and at once recognised in Miss Unknown
Grand Duchess Anastasia. Thereupon a Russian
refugee offered Anastasia bis hospitality. She was re-
leased from Dalldorf in 1922, her official designation
changed from that of Miss Unknown to Mrs. Anastasia
Tschaikovsky. Almost immediately she fell il] with'
pneumonia; and it was only during that illness, when'
told by the doctor that she had little chance to recover I
that Grand Duchess Anastasia at last admitted onpniJ
the fact of her identity, “ ^

[39]

SEEON CASTLE

In the same year she was visited by her godmother,
Princess Irene, who offered to take her to her home.
But Anastasia was so overcome by emotion that she
could do little but weep. Besides, she did not know
that Irene had never received her letter from Dalldorf,
and could not understand how her godmother could
have permitted her to suffer for so long. She declined
the invitation and Irene left, declaring that she would
have nothing to do with so ill-mannered a person.

For almost three years thereafter Grand Duchess
Anastasia led the existence of a helpless pawn in the
hands of scheming Russian refugees, who each in turn
took her to his house, in the hope of obtaining some per-
sonal advantage in case of her formal recognition, only
to refuse her further hospitality when this hope failed
to materialise. In all those years her health was in a
critical condition. Her many wounds had never healed
properly and in one of them tuberculosis of the bone
had set in. At least three times since her appearance in
Berlin, doctors had given up all hope of her recovery,
and for weeks at a stretch she lay half-conscious from
fever and excruciating pain.

Her nerves, needless to say, were completely shat-
tered, and she had developed a cot unknown form of
neurosis, which made her insist that she had forgotten
both Russian and English — the only two languages of
which she had real command. In Dalldorf she had
still spoken Russian, and under an®sthetics or in delir-
ium she usually spoke English. Yet when fully con-
scious, she insisted on talking in German which she
knew poorly. Anastasia’s refusal to speak either Rus-
140 ]

SEEON CASTLE

sian or English naturally became a formidable weapon
in the hands of her opponents.

In the meantime, however, a number of people per-
sisted in their efforts to bring Anastasia’s case once
more to the attention of her relatives, and in 1925 the
brother of the Russian Empress Dowager, Prince
Waldemar of Denmark, began to contribute^ to her
support and requested the Danish Ambassador in Ber-
lin, M. Zable, to take cate of her.

A little later Anastasia was visited by her aunt.
Grand Duchess Olga of Russia, her Swiss tutor, M.
Gillard, and the latter’s wife who had been Anastasia’s
nurse. They seemed to have recognised her instantly
and paid her several visits. Although again very Sick
and suffering agonies, Anastasia during that brief
period appeared almost happy. She talked with her
aunt of the past and gladly answered all her questions.
Did she know by any chance anything about a fortune
left by the Emperor in England, Grand Duchess Olga
wanted to know among other things. There were per-
sistent rumours about such a fortune, but all efforts to
locate it had so far proved futile.

Yes, Anastasia said, she did know about that fortune.
It was shortly before his tragic death that her father
had told her and her sisters that were any of them to
escape they should claim the money kept for them in
England. His own funds the Emperor had used to
pay for the munitions purchased in England during the
war. But he had not touched the money of his daugh-
ters. It was a camouflaged account and the Emperor
had given his daughters detailed explanations which
Anastasia now hastened to impart to her aunt. After

[41]

SEEON CASTLE

that conversation Grand Duchess Olga asked Anasta-
sia’s doctor how long he expected Anastasia to live. Not
over a month, the doctor said.

Olga and the Gillards left Berlin, but began at once
to correspond with Anastasia and her nurse, Mrs. von
Rathlef-Keilmann. The tone of their letters left no
doubt that they were convinced of Anastasia’s true iden-
tity. Olga also sent Anastasia several presents. Then,
for no apparent reason, the correspondence ceased.

Meanwhile, Mrs. von Rathlef wrote to Anastasia’s
maternal uncle, the Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of
Hessen-Darmstadt, asking him to visit his niece. As a
proof of her identity, Mrs. von Rathlef informed the
Grand Duke that Auastasia insisted that she had seen
him for the last time in Russia in 1916. It had been
pointed out to her that this was not possible because in
1916 Russia was at war with Germany and the Grand
Duke of Hessen-Darmstadt in command of a German
•army. But Anastasia had become quite angry and re-
torted that she knew whereof she spoke.

She did. So did the Grand Duke of Hessen-Darm-
stadt. Only very few people knew of the Grand
Duke’s trip to Russia in 1916; they were former high
ofBcials of the Imperial German Goverament and kept
silent about it, because they knew that the Grand Duke
had gone to Russia without the permission of the Ger-
man High Command.

All this the naive Mrs. Rathlef did not, of course,
even suspect. Her reasoning was that if the Grand
Duke had been in Russia in 1916, Anastasia’s knowl-
edge of the fact offered a perfect proof of her iden-
tity. No doubt, the Grand Duke himself reasoned

[42]

SEEON CASTLE

likewise. And he reasoned further that if Anastasia
was not the only person to know of his trip to Russia,
she was the only living witness who had actually seen
him in Russia. It was no wonder, therefore, that — as
some reports had it— Anastasia’s uncle, upon reading
Mrs. von Rathlef’s letter, seized his head with both
hands and exclaimed :

“This is a catastrophe 1”

Then there was still another Grand Duke — Cyril of
Russia. A first cousin of the Emperor, he had at the be-
ginning of the revolution paraded with red banners
and proelaimed himself a “free citizen of a free Rus-
sia." Apparently he had hoped that the grateful rev-
olutionaries would proclaim him an Emperor. But
they had not.

Now, in Germany, Cyril himself had bestowed the
title of Emperor upon his own person. He, too, re-
ceived reports about Grand Duchess Anastasia. She
had spoken bitterly of his betrayal of her father — a be-
trayal which by now Cyril himself was eager to have
the Russian monarchists forget. Worse than that,
many of the latter were beginning to say that it was
Anastasia — the only surviving child of the martyred '
Emperor Nicholas II — who should be placed on the
Russian throne.

For a while all members of Royalty became com-
pletely and strangely silent on the subject of Grand
Duchess Anastasia’s identity. Then her friends learned
with dismay that Grand Duchess Olga and her eldest
sister, Xenia, Grand Duke Cyril, and the Grand Duke
of Hessen-Darmstadt were all making statements to
the effect that Grand Duchess Anastasia was an impos-

[43]

SEEON CASTLE

tor Similar statements emanated from M Gillard,
-.who had suddenly become a representative of the
Grand Duke of Hessen Darmstadt, with a marked im
provement in his financial circumstances
Exasperated, Mrs von Rathlef published a series of
articles in defence of her patient, to whom she had be
come deeply attached Her articles were followed by
another series, printed m the same newspapers and
written by one Detective Knopf, in the employ of the
Grand Duke of Hessen Darmstadt, and M Gillard,
who tried to prove that Grand Duchess Anastasia was
the demented Polish peasant, Francisca Schanzkovska
It was a clumsy job, based on evidence self evidently
planted or forged, and on testimony equally unreliable,
but the scandal it produced was enormous -

Moreover, the police of Hessen Darmstadt began to
exercise every effort to force on Anastasia the passport
of the demented Francisca — a woman who had actually
existed but disappeared from Berlin without trace in
March 1920 With such a passport Anastasia could be
locked up in an insane asylum for life, because Fran-
cisca had been officially adjudged incurably insane
Finally, the Danish Government ordered Ambassa-
dor Zahle to withdraw from all further parbcipation
in the case, and Anastasia would have remained in the
streets had it not been for the hospitality of her distant
relative, Duke George of Leuchtenberg

But even in castle Seeon, as the Duke himself in-
formed me on the >ery day of my arrival, Anastasia
was by no means safe There had been attempts to
kidnap and even poison her, and it was impossible to j
predict what her enemies were going to do next The I
[ 44 ]

SEEON CASTLE

Duke himself seemed on the verge of a nervous col-
lapse. He spoke of Anastasia, to whom he always re-,
ferred as “the Little One,” with true affection. It was
obvious that he had no doubt as to her identity. He
declined, however, to make any formal statement on
the subject, on the ground that he was not competent
to say anything definite because he had not known
Anastasia in her childhood.

In general, most of Grand Duchess Anastasia’s
friends were afraid to acknowledge her formally. Un-
til my own meeting with her, only three persons had
done so. They were the Russian surgeon. Professor
Rudnev; a German doctor, Theodor Kitel; and my
sister. Having myself for a long time refused to be-
lieve that any member of the Imperial Family could
have been rescued, I had at first attributed that reluc-
tance of openly acknowledging Anastasia’s identity to
honest doubt. But the moment I saw Anastasia I not
only recognised her myself, but began to wonder how
anybody who had known her before the Revolution
could have failed to recognise her.

Indeed, in spite of all the horrors she had gone
through. Grand Duchess Anastasia had changed sur-
prisingly little. She remained as small as she had been
at seventeen, and had only grown very thin; in a way
her slimness made her the more recognisable to me be-
cause, as I have said before, it was only shortly before
the Revolution that she became rather stout.

To be sure, her features were drawn and because of
it, her nose appeared even more prominent than before.
Also, her upper jaw having been injured by the blow
of a rifle butt, many of her teeth had to be extracted

SEBON CASTLE

and to hide their absence she hept compressing her Jips
or covering them altogether with her handkerchief.
But a face so characteristic and unusual as Anastasia’s
could not fail to be recognised in spite of such minor
changes. Her hair remained as blond, as wavy and
silky as ever. But above all there were her eyes — those
luminous, blue, truly bewitching eyes— unforgettable
and unmistakable — ^which to me only two people in the
whole world had possessed — Emperor Nicholas II of
Russia and his youngest daughter, Grand Duchess
Anastasia.

More than that, Anastasia was instantly recognisable
not only as her own self, but also as a’member of the
Imperial Family. Her general appearance and bear-
ing were unmistakably those of a Royal personage.
Her family resemblance was striking. She was as ob-
viously a descendant of the Russian Empress Dowager,
Marie, as a child of Emperor Nicholas and Empress
Alexandra. One could find in her as much resem-
blance to her Russian aunts as to her foreign cousins.
She reminded one as much of the former Prince of
Wales as of the German Crown Prince. In short, the
fact that she was a Royal Princess could not, in my
opinion, be doubted by anyone well acquainted with
Royalty — not even necessarily Russian Royalty, since
all the ruling families of Europe were so closely re-
lated.

Before coming to castle Sceon I had read every
available bit of information concerning the mysterious
Mrs. Tschaikovsky. Much of that information ac-
quired an entirely new meaning for me, now (hat I
knew Mrs. Tschaikovsky to be Grand Duchess Anas-
[ 46 ] *

SEEON CASTLE

tasia; not a little of it became obviously untrue, but I
still had no reason to doubt the descriptions of Anas-
tasia’s mental and physical condition by the people
who had seen her during the last few years. And all
those descriptions had left on me the impression that
Anastasia was now a pathetic wreck — ^broken in spirit
as much as in body, with a memory badly impaired,
hardly capable of coherent conversation. Those ac-
counts also represented Anastasia as a person of great
‘meekness, who wanted nothing but to be left in peace,
and dreamed as a highest form of happiness of a quiet
life in some rural retreat where she could do nothing
but feed birds and cultivate flowers.

The Leuchtenbergs gave me a somewhat different
picture of “the Little One.” According to them, she
actually could be very meek and touchingly kind, but
broken in spirit she certainly was not, and at times she
flew into a temper that made all the inhabitants of
castle Seeon shake in their shoes.

How very happy I was to hear thatl
“But how could she-be Anastasia with such a devil-
ish temper?” the Duchess of Leuchtenberg asked me.
“Everybody tells me that the Sovereigns were alwavs
so kind.”

"Kind they were, most of the time,” I agreed. “And
so, accoriUag to you, is ‘the Little One.’ Ew, li yon

think that Their Majesties — the Empress especially

never had fits of temper, you are very much mistaken.
And of all their children precisely Anastasia was the
most temperamental one.”

“One thing I must say about her,” the Duchess said
“I never heard her say a single rude word. No matter

t47]

SEEON CASTLE

how vexed she is, she never uses any vulgar expressions.
Yet she gets so angry at times that she becomes simply
frightening. Her^eyes acquire a perfectly fierce ex-
pression and she just trembles with anger, but never
does she utter one vulgar word."

“What does she say when she is angry?” I enquired.

“All she usually says,” the Duchess answered, “is:
‘You are not fulfilling your duty. Do not forget, I am
your Emperor’s daughterl’ Imagine the nerve that
girl has. How do we know that she is our Emperor’s
daughter? Nobody has any duty towards her. What-
ever people do for her is pure charity on their part
Besides, she must get over that business of Emperors
and Emperors’ daughters. There are no Emperors
nowadays.”

The Duchess of Leuchtenberg, nh Princess Rep-
ntna, prided herself — it must be e.'tplained — on being
an anarchist.

Of Duke George’s many children, it was one of his
daughters Baroness Meller-Zafcomelsky, and her hus-
band, who were particularly fond of Anastasia, as well
as convinced of her identity, because the Baron had
seen her occasionally before the revolution. The Bar-
oness too, however, maintained that Anastasia was
quite erratic, although at least one of her reasons for
such an opinion made me chuckle.

“Just think of it,” she said, “when ‘the Little One*
came here she declared that she had to have a bath
every day. Isn’t this a strange mania? We haven’t a
bathroom in the castle, but ‘the Little C?nc'‘pcrsisfs th
her wish and in some improvised tub scrubs herself all
over every day.”

[ 48 ]

SEEON CASTLE

Anastasia was also said to be pathologically suspi-
cious— another trait, by the way, she had inherited
from her mother. And I myself became immediately
convinced of it, for no sooner did I reach Castle Seeon
than Duke George’s daughter-in-law informed me that
Anastasia did not believe in my good intentions and
flatly refused to receive me.

But on that particular occasion Anastasia’s suspi-
ciousness was not lacking in perceptivity. My study of
her case had convinced me that whoever she was, there
had to exist a well organised plot whereby either an
impostor was being forced on the Imperial Family in
the role of the resurrected Anastasia, or else the real
Anastasia was being prevented from restoration to her
civil and proprietary rights.

I was determined not only to discover what the
actual plot was, but also do my best to expose it by giv-
ing it as much publicity as I could. I had been careful,
however, not to tell anybody — not even my nearest
relatives and friends — of this intention of mine. But
the very first thing which Anastasia said upon learning
of my wish to visit her was that she would not receive
me, because I wanted to write about her in newspapers
and she hated publicity and attributed all her recent
troubles to it.

“Now you can see yourself that she is crazy,’’ the
Duchess of Leuchtenberg said to me after her daugh-
ter-in-law had reported Anastasia’s suspicions about
me. “Why should you write about her in news-
papers?”

In the course of the following days, during which

[49]

SEEON CASTLE

mentioned the Imperial residence of Czarskoe SelO;
and her face acquired at once such a pained expression
that I cursed myself inwardly and hastened to change
the subject of our conversation.

What I wanted now to do above everything else,
was to make the Grand Duchess smile. That she still
could laugh I^hardly dared to hope, but something of
her old humour must have remained in her, I I’eflected.
I began to tell all the funny stories I could remember;
and another miracle happened ; Anastasia’s eyes sud-
denly lit up with that mischievous spark I remembered
so well, her smile grew wider and in a few minutes she
was laughing — laughing with her inimitable and ir-
resistibly contagious laughter of a happy, carefree
child.

I no longer wanted any proofs of her identity. Yet,
unwilled by either of us and wholly unrealised by her,
those proofs — now so unnecessary — began to crop up
on every turn.

It started with my animal drawings which, incident-
ally, had already caused some excitement in the
Leuchtenbcrg family. One day, at dinner, Baroness
Meller said to me:

“ ‘The Little One’ does say incomprehensible things
sometimes. Just now, for instance, before I went
downstairs, she said to me: ‘I may sec Gleb if he has
brought his funny animals. I like them so much. Ask
him whether he has his animals with him.’ God alone
knows what she meant by that It certainly makes no
sense to me. What animals?”

I noticed that the Baroness was seriously perturbed
by the fact that “the Little One’s" first message to me

[52]

SEEON CASTLE

every member of the Leuchtenberg family in turn
tried to talk Anastasia into receiving me, that matter of
publicity came up again and again.

“She told me,” the Duke informed me one day,
“that she may receive you, but only if I promise that you
will not write about her in newspapers. I answered
that I can make no promises on behalf of other people
and that she should take up the matter with you per-
sonally. But what a fantastic ideal What makes her
imagine that you want to write about her in news-
papers?”

< Later, not only I, but several others persons discov-
ered in Anastasia an uncanny ability of guessing
people’s thoughts — an ability which bordered on true
clairvoyance.

Very likely Anastasia would never have received me,
had not Duke George had the happy idea of bringing
about a supposedly accidental meeting between Anas-
tasia and myself, in the entrance hall, on a day on
which the Grand Duchess had to drive to the nearby
town of Wasserburg.

Anastasia recognised me as instantly as I had recog-
nised her, and apparently understood at once that I
had come as a friend — not an enemy. She promised to
see me on the following day, and the strange part of it
was that in all our subsequent conversations she never
said a word about newspapers to me. Again the
Lcuchtcnbcrgs were puzzled. But I was not. Clearly
enough, Anastasia could not have forgotten so easily
her suspicion that I wanted to write about her in news-
papers, but, having understood that she could trust me,
she must have decided to let me act in my own way.

[ 50 ]

SBEON CASTLE

It was in her own room that the Grand Duchess re-
ceived me for the first time. She did not feel well on
that day and was reclining on a couch, looking \ery
tired and nervous. But she greeted me with a smile,
gave me her hand to kiss, and invited me and Baroness
Meller, who had come to assist at our first conversation,
to sit down.

I watched her, incredulous and fascinated. Her
smile, the sound of her voice, her every gesture flooded
my mind with endless memories — deeply disturbing,
yet also so dear and joyful. Nor could I as yet grasp
fully the fact that Anastasia had never been dead, that
the tragic story of Mrs, Tschaikovsky was her story.
Somehow I could not connect her with that legendary
and unreal personage. She was so obviously, so com-
pletely her own self — the adored little Princess of my
childhood days, the bewitching Anastasia, And what
could Anastasia have in common with that unfortunate
Mrs. Tschaikovsky? Anastasia had been killed, my
emotions continued to insist, but must have arisen from
the dead, for here she was before me, smiling at me,
talking to me.

I do not remember how our conversation began. I
only know that it was quite different from what I had
planned when thinking of my first meeting with Mrs.

It had been my mtcatian to ask her
different questions, and guide in a conversation that
would permit me to decide whether she was Anastasia
or an impostor. Now I no longer needed those oue?
tions. Moreover, I knew that it would be criminal to
ask her anything likely to stir up painful memorie n
her mind. It was by the purest accident that I o

• SEEON CASTLE

sounded so silly. But her dismay changed to’ utter be-
wilderment when I said ;

have brought a. whole stack of them. What she
evidently means are my funny drawings of animals,
many of which I made for Anastasia especially.

“But this is perfectly remarkable 1” Duke George ex-
claimed. “How could she have known that, if she is
not Anastasia?”

“From my sister," I suggested.

“Your sister never said a word about theml” Duke
George retorted. “Why, she never even mentioned
either to ‘the Little One’ or to any of us the fact that
you are an artistl”

On that occasion I remained somewhat unconvinced,
but now, that I no longerinecdcd to be convinced my
animals led to another incident which would have been
inexplicable, indeed, were Anastasia anybody except
her own self.

I had brought with me both new drawings I had
made in the United States and old ones made in Si-
beria, which my father had shown to the Imperial
Family. As long as Anastasia was looking at my new
drawings she kept laughing happily. As in her child-
hood, she went carefully over every uniform and satis-
fied herself that everything was correct and true to
form. A picture of a parade pleased her immensely,
because the soldiers were marching just as they were
supposed to march, according to the regulations of the
pre-revolutionary Russian army, with the various com-
manders each in his appointed place. Another picture,
of a king and his cabinet blowing soap bubbles, sent her
unto gales of laugjiter.

[53]

SEEON CASTLE

But the moment she came across one of my old pic-
tures her laughter ceased, her eyes filled with tears,
and for a lon|^ time she looked nt it in silence. Finally
she said:

“You made this drawing long ago.”

“Yes, Your Imperial Highness,” I said.

“You made it in Siberia,” she said, almost in a
whisper.

“Yes,” I repeated.

She looked at the old drawings without another
word, then put them aside, took my new drawings and
again began to laugh.

The discussion of nnifoems led to some remark about
Emperor William.

“Oh, he was very silly-i— that William,” the Grand
Duchess observed.

“Why?” Baroness Meller asked.

“Because he was always knighting so many Jews,”
Anastasia said.

I gave a start. For the last fen years Emperor Wil-
liam had been accused of every conceivable crime,
but nobody remembered or even seemed to know the
fact that he had been in the habit of knighting Jews.

I myself had forgotten all about it, and only now when
the Grand Duchess spoke of it I remembered a con-
versation on that very subject I had many, many years
ago with my father- On that occasion father told me
that our Emperor wholly disapproved of Emperor
William’s policy of knighting so many Je^vs. In Rus-
sia too there were a few Jews among the Nobility, al-
though they had to become Christians first. Emperor
Nicholas was not an anti-Semite in the modern sense
[ 54 ]

SEEON CASTLE -

of the term. He objected to the acceptance of Jews
into the ranks of the Nobility, chiefly on social grounds.

How very odd it was to hear Anastasia bring up that
matter, which had long since lost every importance.

“By the way,” I asked the Grand Duchess, “how do
you like Emperor 'William with his beard?"

“Emperor William with his beard?” she asked, puz-
zled. “William has no beard.”

“He grew a beard after the war,” I said. “Haven’t
you ever seen one of his photographs taken after the
war?"

“No, I never have,” Anastasia said. “I cannot
imagine him with a beard. But his moustache? Surely
it still sticks up in the air, as it used to.”

“I don’t think so,” I answered. “His moustache
seems to have gone down quite a bit.”

Anastasia began to laugh, repeating that she could
not imagine Emperor William with a beard and a
moustache which did not stick up in the air. And I
too laughed heartily, not, however, at Emperor Wil-
liam’s new appearance, but at M. Gillard’s assertions
that ^rs. Tschaikovsky had acquired all her knowl-
edge of Royalty only in recent years from books and
newspapers. Yet she had never even seen a picture of
Emperor William with a beard, while most people
were beginning to forget that be had ever shaved his
chin.

We discussed Emperor William further and Anas-
tasia said that while she did not like William himself
she had always been very fond of his eldest son. Crown
Erince Frederick William. ’

Again I could not help noting in my mind that no

[jsl

SEEON CASTLE

impostor would ever have made such a statement
From the beginning of the war the unfortunate Crown
Prince had become the target of all possible accusations
and ridicule All available historical material testi
fied to the profound animosity which had existed be-
tween the Romanovs and the Hohcnzollerns But I
knew from my father that before the war the Russian
Sovereigns and their children had always made an ex
ception of Crown Prince Frederick William, of whom
they all were very fond But since the war I had never
read or heard the slightest reference to that fact, which
few people had ever known and nobody seemed to le
member

From Royalty the conversation turned to Russian
refugees It surprised and touched me that Anas
tasia, after all her dreadful experiences both in Russia
and among the Russians in Germany, still spoke of
Russians in that tone of benevolent paternalism, so typi
cal of her parents She said that it hurt her deeply to
see so many Russians live m misery It was clear that
in spite of everything they remained to Anastasia fier
people — her father’s subjects whose well being was of
real concern to her

I asked the Grand Duchess in what country she her
self would best like to live She smiled like a child
about to express a very impossible and in the opinion
of the grown ups laughable wish and said

"In England ”

"She IS crazy about England,” Baroness Meller said
reproachfully “We once e\en quarrelled because of
England She will not admit that England has ruined
Russia "

[56]

SEEON CASTLE

“I love England,” Anastasia said, emphatically.

That the Russian Sovereigns had always been very
fond of England and the English was, of course, a
well known fact. But since the revolution all Rus-
sian monarchists had become rabidly anti-British.
They believed that England had deliberately assisted
in the overthrow of the Russian monarchy and later
refused its hospitality to the deposed Sovereigns,
thereby sealing their doom. They further blamed
England for the collapse of the White movement in
Russia and the truly shameful surrender of Admiral
Kolchak to the bolsheviks by the Allied representa-
tives in Siberia. In short, there was no better way of
provoking the wrath of Russian monarchists than by
professing one's love for England. In consequence, I
could not help reflecting once more, that never would
an impostor, bent on winning a following among the
Russian monarchists be so persistently and even pug-
naciously pro-British, as Grand Duchess Anastasia
was. In actual fact, of course, Anastasia was not try-
ing to win any following, but simply remained her own
self and could not be shaken in her convictions — im-
planted in her by her parents — ^by all the arguments of
all the Russian monarchists in the world.

After a while Anastasia began to question me on
America. All her questions were e.Yrj-e/neJy pointed
and typical of a person accustomed to viewing coun-
tries from the vantage point of the ruling classes. She
wanted to know to what extent the United States was
actually democratic, how its democratic regime af-
fected the population, what the general political and
religious aspect of the country was, whether the aver-

C57]

SLLON CASTLE

age American cjtj 2 cn was content with his lot and
loyal to ])is government When Baroness Mcllcr men-
tioned prohibition, Amstasia turned to me and asked

“Oh, then you have not tasted any wine for years?”

"Good wine I have not tasted indeed, until I
reached Pans,” I said “As for alcohol, I am afraid
I have consumed quite a Jot of it in the United States ”

Anastasia looked at me A\ith astonishment “They
still sell alcohol in America?” she asked

“Illegally, of course, bur they do,” I answered “If
you ha\c enough money you can buy as much of it as
you want."

“And Americans themselves — do they also drink?”
she asked again

“They certainly do,” I said

“How terrible 1” Anastasia exclaimed “I cannot un-
derstand it How can people do things which are for
bidden by law?”

I could not help smiling Here again was an
example to what extent the Grand Duchess had pre-
served the ideas of her childhood At the Russian
Court obedience to law had always been taken for
granted, as if a law carried with it an automatic power
of self enforcement To be sure, there were revolu
tionanes, just as there were other criminals who di '
obeyed all laws But the average citizen was neither
a revolutionary nor a criminal How then could he do
things forbidden by law?

"The American attitude towards laws is somewhat
different from what it was in Russia,” I tried to ex
plain “Americans believe that their country is owned
by the people-r-that is, by themselves Laws are not
[58]

SEEON CASTLE

decreed from above, but devised by tbc people them-
selves for their own protection and convenience.
Moreover, with the Federal Congress and forty-eight
State Legislatures constantly passing new laws — there
are so many of them, ineluding a lot of very silly ones —
one cannot possibly observe them all. For instance, in
Kansas it is forbidden by law to smoke cigarettes, al-
though one may smoke cigars and pipes. Your Im-
perial Highness will agree with me that one does not
have to be a criminal to disregard such a law.”

“How funnyl” the Grand Duchess laughed. “Why
should people have such silly laws, especially when
they themselves make them?”

She seemed highly amused and until my departure
from Seeon kept teasing me about American laws,
asking every once in a while whether I was not break-
ing some of them at the moment and should not, there-
fore, be sent to jail.

I noticed with some astonishment a constantly in-
creasing number of sparrows congregate on the
window sill of Anastasia’s room. They appeared not
to mind us at all and from time to time some of them
even ventured into the room itself. I asked the Grand
Duchess about them.

“Oh, these sparrows are my trusted friends,” she
smiled. “They know me well and are not afraid of
me. They always assemble here shortly before dinner
time, because I feed them.”

We began to talk of animals in general of which
Anastasia, as I presently discovered, remained as fond
as she had always been. Incidentally, it was only when
addressing Anastasia herself that 1 spoke in German

[59]

SEEON C/ISTLE

With Baroness MeJlcr I continued to talk in Russian;
and much to my amusement Anastasia who pretended
not to know any Russian, understood every word we
said. Indeed, she did not even appear conscious of the
fact that were talking in two different languages.
Better still, when having forgotten the German word
for squirrel I turned for help to the Baroness, it was
Anastasia herself who answered my question in Rus-
sian.

My heart leapt with joy. Not only did she have a
perfect command of Russian, but she had preserved
that unique accent which I had never heard outside of
her own family.

Unfortunately, Baroness McIIcr began to shout en-
thusiastically that Anastasia had begun to speak Rus-
sian and the Grand Duchess’s eyes at once filled with
tears. She denied vehemently that she had uttered a
single Russian word and even asked me to confirm the
fact. I assured her that she had been speaking in Ger-
man all the time, and she smiled at me gratefully.

What impostor in Anastasia’s position — I thought
again — would refuse to speak Russian which she so
obviously knew to perfection, thus furnishing her
enemies with their best weapon against her?

For the whole day clouds were gathering from all
sides and finally it began to thunder. Baroness Meller
■wanted to close the window, but Anastasia begged her
not to do so.

“I am not afraid of storms,” she said. “I love them.”

It proved a very severe storm. The ancient castle
shook and rumbled as if again besieged by enemiesi
Blinding lightning and deafening thunder kept explodV
[6o]

SEEON CASTLE

ing every few seconds, seemingly right over our heads.
The Baroness sat, pale with fear, and every once in a
while she renewed her requests to be allowed to olose
the window. I myself felt far from comfortable. But
to Anastasia the storm seemed to possess some peculiar
fascination. She ceased to talk and moved closer to the
window.

What could a great painter do, had he seen her dur-
ing that storm, I mused. The gold of her hair shim-
mered softly against the background of the dark,
bluish clouds. Her finely carved features acquired an
ephemeral quality in the weird glow of the almost un-
interrupted lightning. And her blue eyes stared in the
distance, with an expression wherein profound sad-
ness blended strangely with a sort of solemn joy. What
thoughts, what emotions did that magnificent display
of nature’s noble anger provoke in her? I wondered.
What did she perceive in those heavy elouds? What
messages did she hear in that thunder which scattered
through the mountains in a thousand echoes?

One thing I could see clearly — the storm did give
her some deep emotional relief. And something truly
regal there was in the utter fearlessness, indeed pleas-
ure, of that frail young woman — a child almost — in
the face of that violent tempest which, no doubt, made
even many a stout-hearted man feel none too well at
ease.

It was only when the dinner gong began to ring that
the Grand Duchess indicated that we could take leave
of her. No trace of nervousness remained between us.
We had not only fully recognised each other, but 'as it

[6i]

SEEON CASTLE

seemed to me, also understood each other. It was ob-
vious that now Anastasia was actually glad that I had
come; that, although we had not as yet discussed her
future, she was aware of ray determination to do for
her everything I possibly could.

As for myself, I now knew not only that Grand
Duchess Anastasia was alive, but also that in spite of
the bad state of her health, in spite of her shattered
nerves, she was by no means the pathetic invalid I had
pictured from the many accounts about her. Not only
was her conversation perfectly rational, not only could
I find no signs of an impaired memory, but I felt con-
vinced that she still possessed her kepn mind, her bril-
liant wit and incomparable sense of humour. More
than that, she had undeniably preserved also her in-
domitable courage and inexhaustible joy of life.

And I felt infinitely relieved that this was so. For
she was still so young— only twenty-six years of age —
and, restored to normal conditions of life, she could
well hope to find not only peace but actual happiness.
Indeed, who had a better right to happiness than she
whose innocent martyrdom had hardly been sur-
passed — nor often equalled — in the long annals of hu-
man suffering?

[ 63 ]

Ill

A DILEMMA

S TRANGELY Symbolic were the surroundings in
which I met Grand Duchess Anastasia for the
first time after her supposed death. Castle Sccon
was some thousand years old and had been in turn a
fortress of robber barons, a monastery, and a ducal
palace. It bore many traces of its varied history. It
possessed one of those famous torture cages too small
for the prisoner either to lie down, stand straight, or
sit in a natural position. The walls' of one of its cor-
ridors had hundreds of ancient tombstones built into
them. The monks’ workshop was still full of old cof-
fins. Several skeletons of saints were kept in its two
chapels, their grinning skulls grucsomely adorned with
bead whiskers. There were salons decorated with all
the splendour of the First Empire and other rooms
which seemed to belong to a cheap German boarding-
house.

That mixture of faded Imperial magnificence — grim
relics of mediteval cruelty and modern drabness —
seemed to represent graphically all the successive stages
of Anastasia’s strange and tragic life. But outside
spring reigned in all its perfumed loveliness. The
castle — a whitewashed stone structure built around a
square courtyard — stood on a peninsula in the middle
of a lake. Rolling hills covered with a thick forest |
surrounded the lake. Pale bluish mountains rose oa

[63]!

A DILEMMA

the horizon The garden was overgrown with flowers
and old lilac trees, whose iragrant blossoms reached
the second story windows One could see no human
habitation— only an old church across the lake, whose
bells rang softly at intervals

I hoped that the peace and beauty of the countryside
would prove as symbolic of Anastasia’s future as the
castle itself was of her past — that I might be able tolead
her out of that castle to a new life of peace and happi-
ness Yet I was only too keenly aware of all the ob-
stacles which I would have to overcome in order to
achieve my aim

I felt profoundly grateful to the Lcuchtenbcrgs for
having offered their hospitality to Grand Duchess An-
astasia, at a time'Vvhen she was threatened with com
plete disaster.

The Leuchtenbergs, by the way, were direct descend-
-ants of Eugene de Beauharnais, who had been given
the title of the Duke of Lcuchtenberg by his step father,
Napoleon Eugene’s son, Maximilian, came to Russia
and married the daughter of Emperor Nicholas I,
thereby obtaining the status of a member of the Russian
Imperial Family, with the new title of Prince Roman-
ovsky, Duke of Leuchtenberg But m spite of such
recent foreign origin, the family of Duke George was
typically Russian Indeed, they could well have walked
out of the pages of some old Russian novel They
seemed so strangely out of place in their German castle
Aaxf if iVrge- ^s^ ciVi-Afi-eir sasi

grandchildren In accordance with the Russian laws,
they were all, with the only exception olone married
daughter, full-fledged Dukes and Duchesses of Leuch-

[64]

A DILEMMA

tenberg, which at first made it rather difficult for me
to distinguish them. 'As in every Russian household
there were also a great many attendants, guests, and
plain hangers-on.

Duke George himself bore a striking resemblanee to
Emperor Nicholas I. He was a tall and handsome
man with large dark eyes, an aquiline nose, and a small,
greying moustache. His manners, however, contrasted
strangely with his regal appearance. He walked with
a mincing step, talked very rapidly with a sort of fem-
inine lisp, and altogether made the impression of a very
kindly but fidgety and rather timid man.

His wife. Duchess Olga, was on the contrary a short
woman with a stern face, the manners and speech of a
top sergeant and, apparently, a great deal of energy.

Although, like all the other Russians, the Leuchten-
bergs had not been abl4 to save any of their possessions
from Russia, their German castle was a veritable treas-
ure house, whose library alone represented a fortune.
In spite of it, they were in constant financial difficulties.

. Instead of having decided at the outset which of their
many valuable belongings they wanted to sell, they
kept selling them piece-meal — a volume or two one
month, a Napoleonic relic another — and living on the
proceeds of these sales; in other words, on their capital,
and that capital was rapidly declining.

Even so, they lived on a rather large scale, owned
three cars, and travelled. It seemed to me that where
so much money was being spent daily, it would have
been easy enough to supply Grand Duchess Anastasia
at least with'a few necessities. But the Eeuchtenbergs
bought nothing for her. ®

[65]

A DILEMMA

tenberg, -which at first made it rather difficult for me
to distinguish them. ’As in every Russian household
there were also a great many attendants, guests, and
plain hangers-on. '■

Duke George himself bore a striking resemblance to
Emperor Nicholas I. He was a tall and handsome
man with large dark eyes, an aquiline nose, and a small,
greying moustache. His manners, however, contrasted
strangely with his regal appearance. He walked with
a mincing step, talked very rapidly with a sort of fem-
inine lisp, and altogether made the impression of a very
kindly but fidgety and rather timid man. ^

His wife, Duchess Olga, was on the contrary a short
woman with a stern face, the manners and speech of a
top sergeant and, apparently, a great deal of energy.

Although, like all the other Russians, the Leuchten-
bergs had not been able to save any of their possessions
from Russia, their German casUe was a veritable treas-
ure house, whose library alone represented a fortune
In spite of It, they were in constant financial difficulties’
. Instead of having decided at the outset which of their
many valuable belongings they wanted to sell, they
kept selling them piece-meal— a volume or two one
month, a Napoleonic relic another-and living on the
proceeds of these sales; in other words, on their caoital^
and that capital was rapidly declining ^

Even so, they lived on a rather large scale, owned
three cars, and travelled. It seemed to me that where
so much money was being spent daily, it would We
been easy enough to supply Grand Duchess AnasLia
at least with a few necessities. But the Leuchtent. * ^
bought nothing for her. chtenbergs

[65]

A DILEMMA

“ ‘The Little One’ is very /ond of good clothes, par-
ticularly lingerie," Baroness Mcilcr once told me. "But
she has only t\\o dresses and very little lingerie — all of
it quite old. She Keeps them so near and clean She ,
mends c\cr>’ little hole and repairs her dresses o\cr and
over again And she does it all with one hand, because
the bone of her left elbow had been amputated so that!
she cannot use her left hand. She nc\cr complains^
cither, although she docs say once in a ^^hllc, that she
would like so much to have a new pair of silk stockings
She is also crazy about perfume, but naturally cannot
afford to buy any."

Duke George himself would, no doubt, have bought
“the Little One" all the silk stockings and perfume slie
wanted, but Duebess Olga, altliough quite as impractl>
cal as her husband, was extremely close fisted and re-
fused to buy an> thing even for her own children Her
daughtcr-in*Hvv complained to me that her shoes were
quite worn out but she could not get the monej to buy
new ones

Duchess Olgi was also rather rude occasionally and
quarrelled n great deal with Anastasia, One of those
quarrels took place a day or two after m> arrnal and
I was not a little dismajed b> the Duchess’* own ac-
count of It.

A DILEMMA

my house she will be kidnapped, arrested, killed 1 Well,
that made some impression on her. Her eyes filled
with tears, hut she would not give in and said : ‘I don't
care whether I die or not. I do not ask to be kept
alive.’ "

Although at the time I had not yet seen “the Little
One” and, therefore, did not know whether she was
actually Grand Duchess Anastasia, I could not refrain
from pointing out to Duchess Olga that a sick and nerv-
ous person certainly should not he treated in such a
manner. The old Duchess saw that I was quite angry
and attempted to justify herself.

“She is my guest, I keep her here out of charity and
she has to behave,” she said. “But you mustn’t think
that I am not fond of her. You seem to be much im-
pressed by my husband’s kindness towards her. Well,
that husband of mine “is kind but he is not firm. You
know, he entered a gentleman’s agreement with the
Grand Duke of Hessen-Darmstadt. They agreed that
were any witness to identify ‘the Little One’ positively
as that Polish woman, Prancisca, my husband would
surrender her to the Grand Duke’s detective, Knopf.

“So Knopf came here with some prostitute from Ber-
lin, and she gave one look at 'the Little One,’ and
shrieked: 'She is Prancisca 1’ Whereupon Knopf de-
manded her suttendcr. Yon should have seen my
kindly husband then 1 He got so scared that he came to
me and said : ‘dVell, we have to deliver her to Knopf.
What else can we do? I cannot break my word of
honor.’ Then I told him : ‘I'll show you what else we
can dol’ And I called Knopf and the prostitute into
the hall, threw open the entrance door, and said sharply

^ DILEMMA

to them: ‘Get outl And if I see any of you anywhere
near my castle, I’ll have you arrested and thrown into
jail.’ You should have seen them runl So it remains
a question to whom ‘the Little One* owes more — to me
or that kindly husband of mine.”

From what I knew through other sources, the Duch-
ess’ story was substantially correct, but the fact was
hardly consoling. It was good of the old Duchess to
protect “the Little One,” but I hardly dared to think
how the proud and sensitive Anastasia had to suffer
from her hostess’ outbursts of temper. And it was ex-
tremely disturbing to know that Duke George himself
could fall so easily into such obvious traps.

I suspected, however, that his wife was somewhat
exaggerating his weakness; at least I could not imagine
the Duke actually surrendering Anastasia to her ene-
mies. It was also fortunate that Duke George, while
criticised, ridiculed, and even threatened from many
sides for harbouring Anastasia, had found two staunch
supporters in the persons of Crown Prince Ruprecht
of Bavaria and the German General Hoffmann. Neither
of them had ever seen Anastasia, but the Crown Prince
said that he was virtually certain of her identity, while
General Hoffmann had given the word of honour of a
German officer to Duke George, that he positively knew
his protegee to be Grand Duchess Anastasia and could
produce incontrovertible proof of the fact, but for cer-
tain reasons preferred not to do so except in an cx-
fremit}'.

General Hoffmann’s opinion in the matter was — it
must be explained— of paramount importance. During
the World War he had scr^'cd as Chief of Hindenburg’s
[ 68 ]

A DILEMMA

Intelligence Service on the Russian front, and later as
the head of the German delegation which had con-
cluded the peace treaty of Brest-Litovsk with the Bol-
sheviks. At the time Germany showed great concern
over the fate of the Russian Imperial Family and made
several attempts to obtain their release. General Hoff-
mann was, therefore, probably the best informed man
in the world on what had actually happened to the vari-
ous members of Russian Royalty in the fatal summer of
1918.

My recognition of Grand Duchess Anastasia pro-
duced a strong effect on the Leuchtenbergs. Except for
Duke George’s eldest son, Dimitriy, who for some in-
comprehensible reason was almost hostile to Anastasia,
they were all extremely pleased. Baron Mellcr-Zako-
melsky, in particular, was simply touching in his joy
as well as his confidence, that I could be counted upon
to be of real help to Anastasia.

“I always knew that she is the Grand Duchess,” he
said to me. “I can assure you that a lot of people who
do not admit it know it just as well. But they are such
cowards. I myself would have raised hell long ago, but
the trouble is that I am not considered a competent wit-
ness because I had seen the Grand Duchess before the
revolution on very few occasions only. But you can
do a lot for her. If nothing else, you can. ttait eucVi a
noise about the whole matter as to make her enemies
shake with fear.”

“Such indeed is my intention," I admitted.

“May God be with you,” the Baron said. "And if
there is anything I could do to help you, you can always
count on me.” ^

[69]

A DILEMMA

Although Duke George expressed his extreme satis-
faction, he was unable to go into any further discussions
of the course of action to be taken, because on the day
of my first meeting with Anastasia he had to leave
Seeon for Paris. As for his wife, she told me at once
that it was extremely important to find a new refuge for
the Grand Duchess, for she would never be quite safe
in Seeon or indeed anywhere in Germany.

I was very glad to notice that in consequence of my
recognition, the old Duchess had at once assumed a
much more respectful attitude towards Anastasia. At
the same time, however, not only she but all the mem-
bers of her family apparently took it for granted, that
from now on the chief responsibility for Anastasia’s
well-being rested on me.

Not that any of them made any definite statement to
that effect, but while only a day previously they talked
of *^the Little One” as ifieir protegee, in whose fate
they were most eager to interest me, they now — perhaps
unconsciously — changed their tone in very much the
same way that a salesman does after a successful sale.
Overnight “the Little One” became my Little One;
and while they were only too glad to co-operate with
me and, so to speak, keep her in storage for me, they
quite obviously expected me to take her off their hands
as soon as possible.

All this amused rather than disturbed me. I was more
than willing to be regarded as chiefly responsible for
Anastasia’s future; indeed, would have so regarded my-
self under any circumstances. That the Leuchtenbergs
viewed the situation in the same light could only be of
decided help to me. The only — and very big — question

[70]

A DILEMMA

was whether I actually could achieve anything. To
transport the Grand Duchess to a safer place and keep
her there was primarily a question of money; and I
had never had any e.vcept my very insufficient earnings
which were now likely to dwindle further, with all the
time and effort I would have to devote to Anastasia’s
affairs.

But it was one of those situations in which it is im-
possible to ask how strong the enemy is, but only where
he is. I felt it my unquestionable duty not only to find
a safe haven for the Grand Duchess, but to do every-
thing in my power to obtain for her the formal ac-
knowledgment of her identity and rights. The question
was not whether it could be done, but how it could be
done.

My first conversation with Grand Duchess Anastasia
had taken place on a Tuesday and I planned to leave
Seeon for Berlin on Thursday of the same week. In
the meantime I was eager to see as much of the Grand
Duchess as possible. Fortunately, Anastasia had now
dropped all her objections to my intervention in her
case, so that on Wednesday it was she herself who asked
Baroness Meller to bring me again to her room.

She looked much better th.an on the previous day
and greeted me cheerfully. When I told her how eager
I was to have a photograph of her, she brought all the
photographs she had and giving them to me said :

“You may take those of which I have two prints.”

After a while Anastasia observed that she had a cer-
tain wish and needed advice but did not quite know how
to explain the matter. I smiled. Decidedly Anastasia
had changed in nothing. Quite obviously she wanted

[ 71 ]

^ DILEMMA

me to do something for her, but in her own and her
sisters* well-known way she would never say so directly.
I hastened to offer my services. x

“Last Christmas Tania gave me quite a costly pres-
ent,” she began, looking very mueh embarrassed, while
I noted the fact that she still referred to my sister,
Tatiana, as Tania. As no one in our family expected
to occupy the throne, we had been lavish with nick-
names, and my sister had had as many of them as the
rest of us. But the Grand Duchesses had always called
her “Tania."

“I could not refuse Tania’s present," Anastasia con-
tinued, “but it embarrasses me so much to have it. I
know Tania is terribly poor and her present must have
cost money. I shall show it to you."

She went to her chest of drawers and returned with
a little cardboard box. I opened it and found a small
swastika— -the favourite sign of the late Empress Alex-
andra — made of imitation gold and studded with imita-
tion rubies. Quite a cheap trinket it was, although to
my sister in her straitened circumstances it must have,
no doubt, represented a considerable expense.

“I have worn it all the time,” Anastasia said. “It has
been actually mine, and I wonder whether you could
make Tania take it back as a souvenir from me, with-
out offending her,”

I felt not a little moved. Once more, the incident was
so typical of Anastasia as I had known her before the
Revolution. She and her sisters had always been so
touchingly considerate in such matters and afraid that
people were giving them too costly presents.

Equally characteristic was Anastasia’s assumption

[72]

A DILEMMA

that the little swastika had acquired a new value be-
cause it had been worn by her. On the part of a com-
moner such an assumption would, of course, have been
utter conceit. But certainly Anastasia looked not a bit
conceited — indeed, extremely embarrassed — ^while ex-
plaining the whole matter of the swastika to me. Be-
fore the Revolution it would have been mere pretense
on her part to ignore the faet that any member of her
entourage could be made happy by any present from
a Grand Duchess — were it no more than a piece of
string or a paper clip — and would preserve it for ever
after as a sacred relic.

Moreover, the children of the Emperor had been —
and I could see that Anastasia still was — quite imper-
sonal about such matters. They knew the sentimental
value of a Grand Duchess’ giftj just as, let us say, a
Bishop knows the value of his blessing. But a Bishop
takes no personal pride in the magic powers ascribed to
his rank. Likewise, the Grand Duchesses had taken
no personal pride in the adoration shown to them as to
the daughters of the Sovereign.

In the meantime Baroness Meller asked me whether
I would be willing to take Anastasia out on the lake
in a rowboat.

“She adores boating,” the Baroness said. “Only, I
must warn you that she expects everybody to handle the
boat and the oars according to all the regulations of the
old Navy of the Guard. She always makes fun of
people who show no knowledge of those regulations
whatever they may have been.” '

That was a problem. To a person unfamiliar with
boating it may seem that rowing is always rowing. But

[73]

A DILEMMA

fls a matter of fact there arc many different ways of
rowing One can row with a long stroke or a short
stroke, one can ruse the oars by several inches or keep
them always close to the water One can sit in any
number of positions, hold the hands close together or
far apart, and so on

I had not rowed for some fifteen years and my own
marine manners had always resembled those of a Fin
nish fisherman rather than a sailor of the Emperor’s
Guard Even so, I tried hard to remember how those
sailors used to row But whether I succeeded in my
efforts or the Grand Duchess was simply too pleased
to have been taken out on the lake — for pleased she
certainly was — she found no fault with me and only
kept asking whether I was not getting tired
After our return home, Baroness Meller remained
downstairs, while I escorted the Grand Duchess to the
door of her room I told her that I had to leave on the
following day, perhaps early, and so wanted to take
leave of her now But she would not let me

“No matter how earlyyou will have to leave, come
first to see me,” she said

We reached her door There was so much I wanted
to tell her now that we were at last alone But I could
find no words to express my feelings I only kissed her
hand and said ^

“I am so happy to have seen you again ”

She gave me a long, eager look I had the sensation
that she was reading in my eyes all I wanted to tell her
but did not know how to say it At last she parted her
lips to say something, but instead suddenly began to
[ 74 -]

A DILEMMA

sob In a moment, however, she regained control of
herself.

“It was all so dreadful . . she whispered, as if
apologising ior her tears

Then she pressed my hand and hurried to her room.
The following morning I learned that I did not have
to leave until quite late in the afternoon. I wanted to
go at once to Anastasia’s room^ but Baroness Meller
told me that she was probably still asleep, and the old
Duchess asked me to come to her study for a last dis-
cussion of our plans.

I told the Duchess that m my opinion our first con-
cern must be about Anastasia’s personal safety. The
police of Hessen-Darmstadt persisted m their efforts to
force upon the Grand Duchess the passport of the in-
sane Francisca, in order to arrest her as a lunatic and
a fraud. Luckily, the final decision in the matter de-
pended upon the police of Berlin. I planned, therefore,
to go at once to Berlin and persuade the metropolitan
police that the identification of Anastasia as that Polish
peasant was an obvious frame-up.

The country where, in my conviction, Anastasia
would be safer than anywhere else was the United
States But to arrange her trip to the United States
was not an easy matter First of all, it required a lot
of money, which it would be at best difficult to raise.
Then there was, once more, the problem of her pass-
port Anastasia did not have a regular passport, but
only a temporary certificate of identity, and I doubted
very much that any American Consul \\ouId agree to
affix a visa to such a document .

In the meantime, it seemed to me, my original plan

[75]

A DILEMMA

of Rivinp tlic case the widest possible publicity had
become doubly ur^’cnt, because, for tlic present, pub-
licity remained the only means whereby we could hope
to instil at least a little fear in Anastasia’s enemies, and
scr\'c notice on them that she was not quite as friendless
as they apparently assumed.

The Duchess of Lcuclitenbcrg agreed with me enthu-
siastically.

“If you are going to state openly that ‘the Little One'
is Grand Duchess Anastasia,” she said, “the effect of it
will be tremendous. Remember, that as yet nobody,
not even Mrs. Ratblcf, has made such a definite state-
ment in print. It would do a lot to offset the mischief
done by tliosc two men, Knopf and Gillard, and also
make m:ittcrs much easier for me and my Iwsband.
And Anastasia’s enemies will have to leave her alone,
if only for a while. For something bad to happen to
‘the Little One’ shortly after the publication of your
articles would be too obvious. And meanwhile we
must find a safer place for her.

“As for that matter of passports,” the Duchess went
on, “do you know that the Governor of this province
has offered to give ‘the Little One’ a League of Nations’
passport, provided some person acceptable to him
would certify that she is a Russian? Such a passport
would be of immense advantage to her, because ft
could not be revoked by any police official as her pres-
ent certificate can, and it w'ould enable her to go to
country siVe piVuwv', jttvnlvr iV’ nTipovsiihlr
Hessen-Darmstadt or anybody else, to force any false
identity on her. Well, we asked your cousin, Sergius
Botkin, who is officially in charge of the interests of

[76]

A DILEMMA

Russian refugees in Germany, to issue the necessary
certificate, but he refused. Yet he is convinced that
‘the Little One’ is Anastasia.”

“He seems to be,” I agreed. “When I saw him in
Paris, he told me that Mrs. Tschaikovsky is either An-
astasia or a miracle, and he does not believe in mira-
cles. Nevertheless, being a diplomat of the old school,
he would not definitely state even to me that Mrs.
Tschaikovsky is Anastasia.”

“That’s just it," the Duchess said. “You must for-
give me, but that cousin of yours is as much a coward
as everybody else. Nobody asks him to state that ‘the
Little One’ is Anastasia — only that she is a Russian.
But he won’t do even thatl”

“And you yourself?” I asked. “Wouldn’t the Gov-
ernor accept your assurance in regard to Anastasia’s
nationality?”

The old Duchess shrugged her shoulders and said
something rather vague, from which I gathered that
while blaming my cousin Sergius, she herself was just
as unwilling to vouch for Anastasia’s nationality. I
asked whether the Governor would accept a statement
from me, but she said that he would not because he did
not know me personally. Besides, I was a resident of
a foreign country, so that the German authorities would
have no means of getting hold of me, in case my testi-
mony were later found to have been false.

A bitter irony, it seemed, that the daughter of the
Russian Emperor could not even obtain a certificate
to the effect that she is a Russian. To be sure, I ought
not to have felt either as bewildered or indignant as I
did. Had I not seen the Revolution, when the major-

[77]

A DILEMMA

ity of courtiers and other high officials thought of noth-
ing but how to sa^'c their own skins and ran from the
Imperial palace like rats from a sinking ship? Had I
not lived through those dreadful months of Siberian
exile, hoping vainly that of all the millions of people
who but so recently had sworn eternal loyalty to the
Sovereigns, at least a handful might attempt to come
to their rescue? True, after my escape abroad, I had
met a great many people who claimed to have partici-
pated in all sorts of secret plots to liberate the Imperial
Family, but they must have been very secret plots in-
deed, for in Siberia we had seen no evidence of them.

In later years, however, a change of heart seemed to
have occurred, at least among those Russians who had
managed to escape to foreign lands. But whether they
now claimed to have always remained faithful to their
Emperor, or admitted their treason and rued it bitterly,
so many of them had again become monarchists that
by 1927 it was difficult to find a Russian refugee of any
other political convictions. Indeed, so rabidly mon-
archistic had some of -them become, that even I who
had escaped death with the Imperial Family only
through a pure accident, found myself criticised at
times for seditious ideas.

Now fate had presented them with an opportu-
nity of displaying their loyalty in practise, by rallying'
to the support of Grand Duchess Anastasia. Yet,
strangely enough, I found myself once again — as in
Siberia — in the familiar company of my own sister
and a faithful Russian doctor. As for the monarch-
ists . . . ?

[78]

A DILEMMA

The old Duchess of Leuchtcnberg at least did not
pretend to be a monarchist.

“Take the letter ‘m’ off monarchism and you will
know what my convictions are,” she often said witli
more wit than orthographic exactness.

Nor was anything to be achieved through useless re-
proaches. It was lucky enough that the Duchess whole-
heartedly approved of my planned course of action and
was willing to harbour Anastasia, until such time as I
found another place for her.

I gave the Duchess some money for Anastasia’s per-
sonal expenses, which mollified the old lady further,
and permitted me to bring once more to her attention
my conviction, that a person of Anastasia’s sensitivity
and delicate state of health had to be treated with gen-
tleness and tact, and spared the violent scenes the old
Duchess was wont to stage. She seemed not at all an-
noyed by my admonition, and assured me that I did not
have to worry on Anastasia’s behalf.

After luncheon Baroness Meller and I went to see
the Grand Duchess. She met us at the door of her
room and expressed the wish to go for a walk.

“Why didn’t you come earlier?” she asked me some-
what reproachfully. “I got up at eight o’clock, so as
not to miss you, and was waiting for you the whole
morning.”

I explained to her regretfully that I had been told
that it was better not to disturb her in the morning, and
besides, the Duchess of Leuchtcnberg had wanted to
have a final discussion with me.

We left the grounds of the castle and went out on
the road. For a while Baroness Meller fell behind

t79]

A DILEMMA

and I took advantage of those few minutes to assure
Anastasia that she should try not to worry about all the
plots against her and that everything would come out
well in the end.

She smiled gratefully, but shook her head and said
sadly: “Oh, no. Nothing will ever come of it. Noth-
ing will be well again.”

“Oh, yes, it will,” I insisted. “But, in any case, you
must not think of all those machinations against you,
if only for the reason that there is nothing you can do
about them. It is for us to worry about your affairs.
As for yourself, you should try to concentrate on pleas-
ant things only and take good care of your health.”

“My health?” she repeated with a pathetic smile.
“How can I fake care of my health, and who needs it?”

“Would you like to go to America?” I asked.

She seemed quite astonished. “I have never thought
of America,” she answered. “Yes, I think I would like
to go to America, if only because it is so far away, and
nobody there would care about me. But it is not pos-
sible. I have no money, no passport. How could I go
to America?”

“I do not know myself, just now,” I said. “Person-
ally though, I would be most eager to have you come
to America, for the reason that you would be quite
safe there. Do you want me to try to arrange it?”

She smiled again — quite cheerfully this time. "I
do not think it can be arranged, but I do want you to
try,” she said.

Ht-sd now' AW iTtsfS fJXiJ .DSiw:? a

spot which made me feel suddenly transferred to Fin-
land. I was just about to say so, but caught myself in
[80]

A DILEMMA

time. The Imperial Family has spent a part of every
summer in the Finnish fjords, and I feared that a ref-
erence to Finland might be painful to the Grand Duch-
ess. But in a moment Anastasia herself asked :
“Doesn’t this place remind you of Finland?”

I gave a start “Indeed, it does,” I said. “I was
just thinking of it myself. Did you like Finland?”

“Oh, yes, I did,” she sighed. “I liked it so very
much.”

She wanted to say something else, but hesitated. I
knew so well the e.vptession her face assumed. No
doubt, she wanted again to ask me to do something
for her and, as usual, was searching for some sufficiently
round-about way of making her request. My guess
proved right.

“I am always asking people to do things for me,"
she said. “It is so embarrassing. I should like to ask
Sergius Dimitrievich Botkin for a favour, but I don’t
know how to ask him.”

“If Your Imperial Highness would only tell me what
it is,” I said, “I shall see to it that he does it.”

“Oh, no,” she protested. “No, I ought not to bother
people so much. I am such a burden to everybody.”

Baroness Meller who by that time had rejoined us
became very curious, and began to insist that Anastasia
tell us what she wanted my cousin, Sergius, to do for
her. But as I presently discovered, Anastasia still re-
mained the stubborn child she had always been. Any
■attempt to force her to do something, only made her
the more determined not to do it She said rather
sharply that she was not going to tell us anything and
regretted having mentioned the matter at all. Where-

[8t]

A DILCMMA

upon she froze into a displeased silence I decided to
use the same method I would have used under the cir-
cumstances fifteen years previously
“I know what it is,” I said “Your Imperial High
ness wants me to tell my cousm that his nose is quite
out of shape and that in general he looks like a clown ”
The Grand Duchess looked at me with consternation,
but in a moment burst into laughter

“Oh, nol Ob, no!” she protested “I never wanted
to say anything of the sort! Besides, his nose is quite all
right and he has always been very nice to me ”

“I don’t think you arc sincere,” I said “I know,
you think that he is a clown ”

“No, not at all,” Anastasia protested again “I owe
him a great deal And I still feel quite guilty towards
him One day he brought me a beautiful bouquet of
flowers, but as soon as he left, my cat jumped on the
table and destroyed the whole bouquet On the follow-
ing day, your cousin came again and asked ‘Where
are my flowers?’ It was so embarrassing I had to tell
him that there was nothing left of his flowers "

“Didn’t I tell you that he is a clown?” I laughed
"Tfe should feel guilty — not you What he ought to
have done was to go out immediately and buy another
bouquet I shall tell him that you consider him very
ill mannered and altogether ridiculous”

“Oh, please don’t,” she began to plead, apparently far
from certain that I was not likely to do as I threatened
“I will, because I am convinced that this is what you
TTie to 1 cc«!.UWAe.«i to

“Not at alll” she exclaimed again “All I wanted
you to tell him is, that he promised to send me some
[82]

A DILEMMA

newspaper articles concerning my case, but has never
sent them.”

“I shall be happy to remind him of that,” I laughed.
“And you promise not to say anything silly to him?”
Anastasia asked.

‘Tfes, now that I know what your real message is, I
promise,” I assured her.

For the rest of our walk the Grand Duchess remained
in a very cheerful mood, and we continued to joke and
talk nonsense, until we reached the castle. But when
I began to take leave of her, for it was time for me to
go, she again became sad and asked me not to forget
her and keep in touch with her.

When I was entering the car, one of the Leuchten-
bergs said to me:

“Look, ‘the Little One* came to her window to see
you leave. This is quite astonishing. Do you know
that you are the first of our guests to be so honoured?”

I looked at the window and indeed saw Anastasia
smiling and waving to me. How often had I seen her
thus, at the window, in the days of our Siberian exile 1
I became so engrossed in the contemplation of that
picture, fraught with so many disturbing memories,
that I completely forgot the Lcuchtenbergs who had
gathered round my car.

“Qh, those. Ameciciu. wvs.u.w«s, of I the

young Duchess Tamara exclaim. “He doesn't even sav
good-bye!"

But the meaning of her words reached my mind only
after the car had swerved around the corner and Castle
Seeon disappeared from my sight.

183 ]

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE

T he news of my meeting with Grand Duchess
Anastasia had spread rapidly, so that upon my
arrival in Berlin I was at once besieged by
many people interested in her case. Among them was
Mrs. von Rathlef-Kellmann, who had unwittingly
caused the wrath of the Grand Duke of Hessen-Darm-
stadt against Anastasia. But it was also Mrs. von
Rathlef, who had done more than anybody else to
prove Anastasia’s claim, and had spent all her money
gathering evidence. Of her devotion to Anastasia
there could be no question.

Together with Mrs. von Rathlef's lawyer, Dr. Voel-
ler, I proceeded at once to collect evidence to prove
that the identification of Anastasia with the demented
Polish peasant, Francisca Schanzkovska, was a frame-
up. It happened to be a task much easier than I had
expected.

To begin with, according to official records, Fran-
cisca had disappeared from Berlin in March 1920,
while Grand Duchess Anastasia had been rescued from
the Landwehr canal in Berlin in February 1920.
Furthermore, before her disappearance Francisca had
been adjudged incurably insane, while according to all
tfie (foctors and alTenfsts who fiad treafed or examined,
her, Anastasia was not and never had been insane. The
only languages Francisca had known were German and
[ 84 ]

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE

a Polish dialect of the lower classes, while Anastasia
knew German, Russian and English, and not a word
of Polish. Francisca had never had a child, while
Anastasia had given birth to a son in 1919. Finally,
Francisca’s handwriting was entirely different from
Anastasia’s, and her photographs showed not the
slightest resemblance to the Grand Duchess.

The story that Anastasia was Francisca was concocted
by the Messrs. Knopf and Gillard, and based largely
on the testimony of that prostitute whom Detective
Knopf had brought to Castle Seeon. That story not
only bore every mark of fiction, but contained a num-
ber of contradictory statements.

Dr. Voeller and I deeided that the surest way to
prove definitely the fraudulent nature of the whole af-
fair was to question the prostitute herself. We called
at her apartment, located in the worst slums of Berlin,
under the pretext of being journalists interested in her
participation in Anastasia’s case. She invited us for the
first time to a cafe which, according to the police, was
a notorious rendezvous of the Berlin underworld. But
the woman herself was surprisingly good-looking and
well dressed.

Later we invited her to several dinners in more re-
spectable restaurants. At our final interview with her,
we were joined by one of the Inspectors of the Berlin
police, also posing as a journalist.

As we had hoped, she gave herself away completely.
She could not even answer questions pertaining to what
she claimed to have been her own experiences, without
'consulting a notebook. The Police Inspector adroitly
maniEUvred her into letting him see that notebook, and

[8s]

CONGLVSIVB EVIDENCE

in it we discovered notes dictated by the same Detective
Knopf. We caught her in any number of inconsisten-
cies and some completely absurd statements. Thus, she
asserted among other things that she knew Anastasia to
be Francisca because Francisca’s teeth had all been
black and decayed. While many of Anastasia's teeth
had had to be extracted, she did not have and never did
have a single black tooth in her mouth.^

Finally, we induced our charming guest to show us
her contract with the newspaper, which had published
the Francisca story, and whose editor, by the way, had
been paid 25,000 marks by the Grand Duke of Hessen-
Darmstadt for doing so.* Although we had supposed
that her contract was likely to be somewhat irregular,
we were nevertheless quite astonished to discover that
she had been paid fifteen hundred marks to recognise
'Anastasia as Francisca, before she had even seen the
Grand Duchess.

'The questiODiDg ol the vromsti by Dr Voeller, the ©Beer of the Berlio
Crimloal Police, and myself was recorded in two protocols of May 19th
and May aiit, 19x7 Her inotber and (ister were questioned later vrith
similar results, as showa by the protocol of Alay rath, tfiy The complete
impossibility of Mrs Tschaikovshy’s identity with Francisca Sehanzkovsky
IS, also, made clear by the written statement in lieu of a sworn alSdaTit
made by Francisca's brother, 'Felix Sebanzkovsky, on May 9th, of the same
year • ^

'The admission made at least on two different occbsioqs by Dr Lucke
that the sum of 20,000 or 25,000 Marks was paid by the Grand Duke of
Hessen Darmstadt to the SeAerl ! rrfag, of which he was an editor, is re*
corded m the written statement of October 4*. »9»7. addressed to the editor
of Die Taphe/it RundJefiau by Fritz Spengruber, a solicitor, of No jj. tl
Neuhauserstrasse, Munich Of the i>eopIe, who bad beard Dr Lucke make
that admission, the Duke and Duchess of Leuchtenberg and Miss Agnes
Wasserschleben repeatedly had expressed their willingness to confirm iheif
restimony on tiie subject undtr oat* /» pewss-rAy, Ar»r.WiJ Ahr
matter from the Duke of Leuchteobeig 10 May, 19*7 According to his
statement to roe, it was Dr Lucke himself, who had accepted the money'
and the amount stas not 20000 but 25,000 Marks The Duke’s statement is
contained in my written notes of the time

[ 86 ]

CONGLUSirE EVIDENCE

The Police Inspector almost laughed himself to tears
at the stupidity with which the prostitute was faUing
into every trap set for her. By the end of the dinner
he called us aside and congratulated us on our skill as
detectives.

“There can be no question that the whole business
about Francisca is a frame-up/’ he said. “And you
may rest assured that Mrs. Tschaikovsky will not be
given Francisca’s passport. Moreover, should you be
willing to make a complaint, I shall have the prostitute
arrested for perjury and entering a fraudulent agree-
ment. You have gathered enough material to make a
jail sentence for the woman certain.” *

"While I felt inclined to feel sorry for the woman,
who, after all, was but a stupid creature not likely to
refuse fifteen hundred marks for any service, I wanted
nevertheless to make the necessary complaint against
her. Burthe Duke of Leuchtenberg, Mrs. von Rathlef,
and several others begged me not to do so. They in-
sisted that to have that prostitute put in jail for a few
months would achieve nothing, except to forewarn our
chief enemy, the Grand Duke of Hessen-Darmstadt.
It was the Grand Duke whom they wanted to bring to
court, and they were eager not to arouse his suspicions
in the meantime.

I let myself be persuaded and never ceased to regret
it. No action has ever been taken against the Grand
Duke of Hessen-Darmstadt, and the Francisca myth
continues to be believed by many to this day. Had the

»A photograph of the woman’* fraudulent contract with the Schtrl I’,,
la(f li reproduced opposite page 177 of the English edition of Mrs
Rathlef Keiimann’a booh Anattana, published m this coumrv m t
Pajson Sc Clarke, Ltd

[87]

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE

star witness in the case been given a jail sentence for
perjury, the case would have been killed once and for
all.

It was also while investigating the Francisca affair,
that I became definitely convinced of the fact that M
Gillard in his persecution of his o^n formerly so much
adored pupil, was not acting in good faith

Nothing is easier than to expose an impostor. I
myself had exposed several of them, and it had never
taken me longer than ten or fifteen minutes to do so
The plain fact is that to impersonate somebody one has
never known, m a manner convincing to people who
have known that person, is a sheer impossibility. In*
deed, professional actors have enough trouble trying to
appear convincing in historical roles to audiences eager
to be convinced. I have yet to see a Hollywood star
who has mastered even the simple art of offering her
hand for a kiss, in the manner in which ladies of the
aristocracy used to do it ‘

It is for this reason that no impostor has ever enjoyed
the slightest success, except among people who had not
known the person he claimed to be. Confronted with
a competent witness, the cleverest impostor cannot help
giving himself away, in even the shortest and most
casual conversation. The very assumption that a de-
mented Polish peasant could be mistaken by anybody
for a Royal Princess was altogether preposterous
But, above all, had Anastasia actually been a Polish
peasant, M Giliard woaW have to do no more, m order
to disprove her claim, than to give an accurate report
of her personality, manners, and conversation Cer-
tainly he would not have been in need of any deliberate
f88]

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE

misstatements of facts, misquotations and misrepresen-
tations. Yet his writings about Anastasia were full of
them.

For instance, some time during the year 192 j, Grand
Duchess Anastasia told the Danish Ambassador, M.
Zahle, that her mother, the Empress, had a small
swastika on the hood of her car. M. Zahle tried to
verify that statement, but nobody, not even the Empress’
personal valet, remembered anything about a swastika
on Her Majesty’s car. Many months later, in a new
book about the Russian Imperial Family, M. Zahle
found a photograph of the Empress’ car. He looked
at the hood, but saw nothing on it. He then examined
the photograph with a powerful magnifying glass and
discovered the swastika on the exact spot mentioned by
Anastasia. Characteristically enough, when he repotted
his discovery to Anastasia, she remained quite unim-
pressed; indeed, she seemed to have forgotten that she
had ever told M. Zahle about the swastika on her
mother’s car.

Mrs. von Rathlef had described that incident in one
of her articles, and Gillard answered by publishing a
photograph of the Empress’ car with a huge swastika
drawn on its door. In the accompanying article he en-
quired snceringly how anybody could have failed to
notice that swastika on the picture. In the first place
Anastasia had mentioned the swastika before anybody
had been able to find a photograph of the Empress’ car.
Ip the second place, the swastika — as Anastasia had
correctly stated— had actually been, not on the door
but on the hood of the car. In the third place the
swastika on M. Gillatd’s picture had been quite obvi-

[M9]

CONCLUSIFE EVIDENCE

ously drawn jn with black ink, doubtless on Gillard's
own orders.'

The photograph of Francisca, published in one of
Gillard’s articles, also showed plainly traces of retouch-
ing, made in an effort to create some resemblance be-
tween Francisca and the recent photographs of Grand
Duchess Anastasia. In spite of it, the faces were so
utterly different, that Gillard himself could think of
nothing better than to print over the photographs of
Francisca and Anastasia the caption: “The Gradual
Transformation of Francisca Schanzkovska’s Face.”*

It was, indeed, quite a transformation!

In another article, Gillard declared that my sister
had acknowledged Mrs. Tschaikovsky as Anastasia,
because she had been hypnotised by Mrs. von Rathlef.
Aside from the fact that Mrs. von Rathlef had never
been known to possess any talent as a hypnotist, M.
Gillard knew quite well that my sister had never even
met Mrs. von Rathlef and was, moreover, openly hos-
tile to her. Like Anastasia, my sister attributed all the
intrigues against the Grand Duchess to the publicity
given her case by Mrs. von Rathlef, and accused the
latter — quite unfairly, — of having published her arti-
cles about Anastasia for the sole purpose of making
money.

I further learned that it was Mmc. Gillard, who in
ipaj had idcnlilicd a malformation of Anastasia’s right

• Atnone the obTiouUy retouched p*rti of Franciir*’! photofjrjph the
trkkh tmsU hart btrtt aiSdri, undouhitiSlf Sot Hr jwoa

lh»l Grand Duchnt Ana«iai 1 a’t eari arc pierced. Aecorditij- eo the tcitl-
monj- of « number of Ffioclrca'* dote trieodt, the bed aerer vrora car-
dropi and her ear* had not been pierced. One of the docomenrt. recofdioE
the aboTC fact, I* the protocol of the quotlonltiff of Mr*. Wlojiencler and
Mr*. Wjfpyrtrock of May 141b, *9*7.

[90]

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE

foot and a scar on one of her fingers, and Gillard him-
self who had stated that Anastasia’s present handwrit-
ing resembled closely her handwriting at the age of
fourteen. Still further, that in the presence of Ambas-
sador Zahle, Professor Rudnev, and Mrs. von Rathlef,
Gillard had repeatedly referred to Anastasia as Her
Imperial Highness, and stated with tears in his eyes
that he would do everything in his power to help her.
Yet in 1926 I had received a cable from Gillard,
wherein he declared that all rumours to the effect that
he had ever admitted the possibility that Mrs. Tschai-
kovsky was Grand Duchess Anastasia, were Bolshevik
propaganda. Was His Excellency the Danish Ambas-
sador by any chance in charge of Bolshevik propa-
ganda?

But to quote all the instances in which M. Gillard
had stated deliberate untruths, or availed himself of
retouched photographs and other faked or planted evi-
dence, would require the writing of a whole book. And
in my opinion, his conduct— a conduct which dismayed
me utterly, for I had previously held the highest opin-
ion of M. Gillard — showed conclusively, not only that
he had set out to prove something he himself did not
believe, but ■also that he regarded as most probable, and
most likely knew definitely, that the so-called Mrs.
Tschaikovsky was actually Grand Duchess Anastasia.

Had he been honest in his conviction that Anastasia
was an impostor, he would never have based his case
against her on deliberate falsehoods. Who, indeed
unless completely insane, would attempt to prove 2
truth with incessant and systematic lying? Further-
more, had -he honestly doubted Anastasia’s identity, he

[9t]

CONGLUSIFE EVIDENCE

would either have limited himself to proving that she
was not Anastasia, or else made a serious effort to dis-
cover who she actually was.

That she was not Francisca, Gillard knew better than
any man, since he himself had participated in the man-
ufacture of the false evidence that she was. The weak-
ness of the whole case was self-evident. Had it not
taken only about one hour for Dr. Voeller and myself to
persuade the police of Berlin that Anastasia was not
Francisca; to persuade them so thoroughly, moreover,
that, on the basis of our data and arguments, they had
rejected as false the identification of Anastasia as Fran-
cisca by the police of Hessen-Darmstadt, although the
latter had prepared a voluminous report on the subject?

And how had that Francisca got mixed up in Anas-
tasia’s case at all? She was a discovery of Detective
Knopf, whom the Grand Duke of Hessen-Darmstadt
had hired to prove at all cost that Anastasia was not
Anastasia, but somebody else. Francisca happened to
be the only young woman — albeit by several years An-
astasia’s senior — in the files of the Missing Persons’
Bureau of Berlin, who had disappeared in X920 — the
year Anastasia had appeared in Berlin. Besides, hav-
ing been adjudged incurably insane, if found, she could
be arrested and placed for life in an insane asylum.
Hence the efforts to prove, take what it may, that An-
astasia was Francisca, and the consequent necessity of
fabricating spurious evidence in the complete absence
of actual facts.

Some of those efforts, however, in spite of their sor-
didness, bordered on the comical. For instance, Detec-
tive Knopf had attempted to persuade the relatives of

[9a]

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE

Francisca, that she had had a child or a miscarriage.
But those relatives who until then, had appeared
willing, for a price, to testify to almost anything,
emphatically refused to defame the missing Fran-
cisca’s character. M. Gillard then promptly declared
that Anastasia had invented the story of having given
birth to a son, and that the doctors must always have
known it, for why otherwise had she been registered
in the Dalldorf asylum as Miss Unknown instead of
Mrs. Unknown 1

My first impulse was to go at once to Switzerland
and have a personal talk with M. Gillard. I hoped
that I could, perhaps, bring him to his senses, and
awaken in him his former loyalty to the Imperial Fam-
ily. But I was assured that such a move would not
only be useless, but dangerous.

“Gillard has become unrecognisable," a friend of
mine told me. “He knows only too well what he is
doing and is a complete nervous wreck. But he has
gone too far to back out. And no matter what you tell
him, and in the presence of how many witnesses, he
will immediately write another of his articles, misquot-
ing your every word. Far better not to have anything
to do with him.”

And Gillard’s motive? That was, perhaps, the worst
of it. His own letters to Mrs. von Rathlef, written
before his betrayal of Anastasia, revealed the fact that
he was at the time in serious financial straits, and both
he and his wife had grown well-nigh desperate. And
apparently he is the type of person to whom years
of grinding poverty were more demoralising than even
the threat of immediate death. Perhaps it were but*

[93]

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE ,

natural. Many a Russian, who had conducted himself
heroically in the days of the Civil War, had after years
of misery abroad, sold himself for a mere pittance to
the very Bolsheviks against whom he had fought.

Gillard had not sold himself to the Bolsheviks, to
be sure. He h'ad only become “the representative” of
the Grand Duke of Hessen-Darmstadt, as he now styled
himself. And great as was my contempt for him, I yet
could not help pitying him. True, for the present he
seemed free from financial worries, but how could that
temporary security make up for the loss of his mental
peace and self-respect? And how long would that se-
curity last? Could the Grand Duke of Hessen-Darm-
stadt himself have the slightest respect for him? Peo-
ple, who hire themselves out to ^eriorm what in plain
language is known as a dirty job, are usually despised
by their own employers, as^much as by the rest of the
world, and dismissed by them at the earliest opportu-
nity.

It was truly for a mess of pottage that poor Gillard
had sold his reputation as a loyal and honest man, and
the respect and affection of so many of his former
friends.

As for myself, having received the assurance of the
Berlin police that Grand Duchess Anastasia would not
be given the passport of Francisca Schanzkovska, I
turned to the study of all available evidence concerning
Anastasia’s true identity. Most of it was to be found
either in the files of my cousin's chancery or in the pos-
session of Mrs. von Rathlef, My cousin himself was
,at the time in Paris, but his assistant, Baron von der
Osten-Sacken-Tettenborn, allowed me free access to his
[ 94 ]

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE

files and helped me further by explaining matters, of
which for one reason or another there did not exist any
written record.

Much as I had rea’d about Anastasia’s case in the
course of the preceding year and a half, I was neverthe-
less amazed at the wealth of material and the incon-
trovertible nature of much of the evidence in her favor.
But I realised at the same time, that in my struggle for
Anastasia’s recognition I would be hampered, as much
by the timidity of her supporters as by the unscrupu-
lousness and ruthlessness of her opponents.

Probably not less than a half of all the material in
my cousin’s files was marked as strictly confidential
and would not — so Osten-Sackcn hastened to explain
to me — ^be released under any circumstances, for use
either in the press or even in the courts. It was the
same with oral statements — half of them could not be
used, and would be denied by the people who had made
them, if quoted.

Of all those people it was the Danish Ambassador,
M. Zahle, whom it was the easiest to excuse. After all,
he was a foreigner, a diplomat in active service, making
an excellent career. Besides, he had done a great deal
for Anastasia before his Government, scared by the
ever widening controversy, had ordered him to cease
his efforts in her behalf.

Of what the Russians, including my cousin, were so
afraid, w.as more difficult to understand. They cer-
tainly had no careers to lose. Yet rrty cousin himself
had told me, while I was still in Paris, that he feared
most of all to do or say something that could conceiva-
bly give offense to'Grand Duchess Olga or the Grand

[95]

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE

Duke of Hessen-Darmstadt. But to espouse Anas-
tasia^s cause and at the same time fear to displease Olga
or Hessen-Darmstadt was like starting a war with the
determination not to wound a single enemy.

Until my arrival in Seeon, the behaviour of Grand
Duchess Olga appeared particularly baffling to me.
It was the Duchess of Leuchtenberg who gave me the
first plausible explanation by^ telling me the story of
the fortune in the Bank of England. At first I refused
to believe it, because I could not imagine a sister of the
Emperor disowning Jier own niece for so sordid a mo-
tive and because the Emperor himself had told my
father in Siberia that he had no money left in England.

“The Emperor, no doubt, knew his family better than
we did,” the Duchess of Leuchtenberg had commented
on that latter consideration of mine. “But the fact
remains that Anastasia’s statement about the money in
the Bank of England was verified by Zahle through the
Bank itself and found to be true. And the further fact
is that it was only from Anastasia herself that her aunts
learned about the existence of that money.”

On that subject I found a great deal of material in my
cousin’s archives, all of which seemed to indicate that
the Duchess of Leuchtenberg was right in her explana-
tion of Olga’s attitude towards Anastasia. But it was
this material — which also strongly inculpated Olga’s
eldest sister, Grand Duchess Xenia — that my cousin
was particularly determined to keep secret.

That Olga had fully recognised Anastasia I could
no longer doubt. True, her only written statement to
the Danish Ambassador said merely tliat she by no
means denied Anastasia's identity, but was not yet pre-

C95]

CONGLVSIVE LVWLNCE

pared to acknowledge her formally But she had
spoken of Anastasia, above all treated Anastasia her-
self, in a manner which made it clear that she was con-
vinced of her true identity

Here are a few of the notes Grand Duchess Olga
sent to Grand Duchess Anastasia, after their last meet-
ing in Berlin in the fall of 1925 . *

Undated

“I am sending you my love, am thinking of you all the
time — It is so sad to go awa^ knowing that you are ill and
suffering and lonely Don’t be anxious You are not alone
now and we shall not abandon you Kind regards to Mrs
Ratchffe * Do eat a lot and drink cream ”

i8th (31st) October 1925

“My thoughts are with you — I am remembering the
times when we were together, when you stuffed me with
chocolates, tea and cocoa How is your health? You must
be a good girl — must eat a lot and do as Mrs Ratchffe’^
says Kind regards to Professor Rudnev My children were
so glad to see us back — I hear that the youngest was crying
every evening because he had to go to bed without his daddy
and mammy He kept on kissing and hugging me today
I hope you will soon be quite well Am waiting for your
letter Olga ”

22nd October (4th Nov ) 1925
“I am sending to my little patient my own silk shawl
which IS very warm I hope that you will wrap this shawl
around >our shoulders and your arms and that it will keep
you warm during the cold of the winter I bought this shawl
m Japan before the War Have you received the postcard?
I am waiting for jour news Thinking of you all the time

•Grand Duchess Olgas wnttto messages to Grand Duchess Anastasia
hare been translated into Engl sh by me from the or g nals Photostatic
cop es of those originals are m the possess on of Grand Duchess Anastas.-, .
Amer can attorney

• Mrs Von Kathlef Ke Imann.

[97]

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE

Am sending my kindest regards to the three inhabitants of
No. i8. How is the white ‘Kild*? ** Kindest regards to
Professor Rudner. Lore from Olga.”

8th (21st) November 1925.

“It is a long time since we heard from Mrs. Ratcliffe,*^!
heard from Mr. Zahle that the poor hand is getting better.
Thanks for your greetings. My boys have lessons every
morning, but before their lessons we go for a walk, run
about in the wood and look for frozen pools, etc. Now it
is warm again. I was busy with a Russian Bazaar which
was very successful. Yesterday evening I went to a Con-
cert in the Danish Church which was arranged for the bene-
fit of our Church. I had only one letter from Mrs. Gilliard
since their arrival. They arc probably busy with their own
affairs. Kindest regards to both of you as well as to
‘Kiki’.** Olga."

i2th (25th) December 1925.

“Very many thanks for the book. Am longing to see you.
It was so kind of you to think of my boys — they enjoyed
the story very much Indeed. I was so glad to hear that your
health permits you to go to Church. I had already packed
one of my ‘sweaters’ for you which I wore myself and like
very much, but cannot make use of it now, as I am in mourn-
ing for my aunt. So I hope you will not mind wearing it — ■
please do — you have to pull the thing over your head and »
then slip in your arms. We shall still keep our Russian
Christmas. In the meantime everbody around is celebrating
the Danish Christmas. Best wishes. Kindest regards to
Mrs. Ratcliffe.* How is ‘Kiki’?** Olga.”

Was it to a demented Polish peasant that Grand
Duchess Olga had been sending her love? Was it an
impostor over whose health she had so touchingly wor-
ried, whom she had lovingly admonished to be a good

• Mrt. Voa RathUl-Ktllcaaoa. *

** Grand Ducheit Anaitaiia'a cat.

1 98)

\CONCLVSirE EVIDENCE

girl? Was it a iraud whom the sister of the Emperor
had longed to see, whom she had promised nevfr to
abandon?

Nor had anything happened in the interval between
these letters and Olga’s announcement that Anastasia
was an impostor, that could conceivably have changed
Olga’s opinion concerning her niece’s identity. What
did happen, however, was that Anastasia had not died
within a month — as her doctor had told Olga that she
probably would — but instead recovered sufficiently to
have been pronounced out of immediate danger.

Another thing which did happen was a cable from
Grand Duchess Xenia to Grand Duchess Olga, a certi-
fied copy of which I have seen with my own eyes, and
whose text so far as I remember it was :

“Do not acknowledge Anastasia under any circum-
stances.”

And Grand Duchess Xenia it was who had estab-
lished herself through the British courts, as heir to ahy
properties or moneys of the late Russian Emperor
. which “may be found in England.”

Moreover, apart from stating that Anastasia was an
impostor, neither Xenia nor Olga had anything to say
on the subject of her identity. They merely said that
they had complete faith in M. Gillard, and pretended
to believe all the fantastic and slanderous stuff he was
writing, stuff which could not have convinced even a
child at all familiar with the situation.

What then was the nature of the evidence in favour
of Grand Duchess Anastasia’s claim to her own iden-
tity, and which her German uncle, her Russian aunts

[99]

GONCLVSIVE EVIDENCE

and their common representative, M. Gillard, attempted
to ignore? Luckily, this evidence could not be con-
cealed, because it had been gathered from many
difFcrcnt sources and therefore was kno^vn in whole or
in part to too many people. Much of it had also already
been published by Mrs. von Rathlcf.

Personally, I had long known that Grand Duchess
Anastasia bad not died instantly at the time of the
shooting. Several Bolsheviks who had cither partici-
pated in or witnessed the murder of the Imperial
Family had been caught by the Whites; and t\vo of
them, Yakimov and Gorshkov, had testified that after
the shooting Grand Duchess Anastasia began to shriek
and tried to rise to her feet One of the soldiers had
then knocked her down with the butt of his rifle.*

There was also testimony to the effect that either the
same or another soldier had pierced Anastasia’s foot
with his bayonet, pinning her down to the floor. My
uncle, Colonel Victor Botkin, had fold me in the spring
of xgig that the piece of the floor where the bayonet
had entered had been cut out by the examining ofH-
cials and preserved with the rest of the relics.

Knowing, however, that the bodies of the victims had
been later cremated in the forest, we assumed that
unless 'Anastasia had been killed by that blow of the
rifle butt she must have been burned alive.

« The itatementa of Yftklmor and Gonhirar are contained jo the earlier
editions of a iummaty of SoIoIot'o inresugations published in France C«-
gueSe Jsidtcttstrt Sur VAttatttnat Vt £« Famillt Imptriole Rwt, Payot,
Pans Significantly enough those atatements were Dmitted from later edi-
tions -nbich appeared after the question of Grand Duchesi Anastasia’s
identity became a subject of open eontcorersy Z-at«r, Soto/or had given
all his original documents to Mr Henry Ford, but according to a letter from
Mr. Ford s secretary to Grand Dncfcess Anastasia’s attorney those docu-
ments hare subsequently been misplacedi
[ lOO]

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE

I had also known that each of the Grand Duchesses
had worn an icon under her dress, and that the icons
belonging to Olga, Tatiana, and Marie were found
near the pyre where their bodies had been cremated,
while Anastasia’s ieon had disappeared. But, as so
many other objects had also disappeared, I had not
attached any significance to this fact.

Concerning the escape of one or another of the
Grand Duchesses, there had always been many ru-
mours, but I had never paid any attention to them, so
certain had I been that they all had perished. Now,
however, I was astonished to discover how weighty and
precise was the evidence regarding Anastasia’s rescue.

For instance, a German customs official, who had
lived as a war prisoner in Siberia, testified that he had
made the acquaintance of a Russian Red soldier,
Sergei Komarov. The latter told him that he had
served in the detachment which guarded the Imperial
Family in Ekaterinburg, and that although he had not
participated in the murder of the Imperial Family,
he had assisted in taking the bodies out of the
cellar. According to Komarov, the body of one of
the Emperor’s daughters had vanished without trace.
Komarov’s own guess was that, perhaps, one of the
soldiers, who may have been particularly devoted to
that Grand Duchess, had stolen her corpse and given
it a secret burial.'

A Bolshevik official of standing had told a number
of people that, according to Commissar Piatakov of
Ekaterinburg, when the bodies of the Imperial Family

*■016 Statement of the customs ofiiclal was published la the Uaitovrr
Anttiger on Match 13 th, iost. "

CONCLUSIFE EVIDENCE

were being Jondcd on the lorry to be taken to the forest,
one body was found missing.*

A German medical assistant, taken prisoner by the
Russians and later pressed into the service of the Red
Army as a surgeon, testified that at the time of the
murder of the Imperial Family be was stationed in
Ekaterinburg, and that immediately upon the murder
the Bolshevik authorities had plastered the whole town
with placards, announcing that several Red soldiers
had disappeared on the night of July 17 with "female
members” of the Emperor’s family and valuables.

"The search for them was carried on zealously and
roused terrible fury,” the surgeon testified in part.
"Many persons were imprisoned on the charge of
having sheltered the fugitives, and shot after a summary
trial. Houses were searched everjnvhere, and also the
hospitals, especially the women’s wards which were
placed under strict supervision.”

Several other German war prisoners gave similar
testimony.®

Princess Helen, daughter of King Peter of Serbia
and widow of Prince John of Russia, who was mur-
dered by the Bolsheviks in Alapaevsk near Ekaterin-
burg, was herself in July 1918 in a Bolshevik jail in
Perm. She stated that shortly after the murder of the
Imperial Family one of the Bolshevik commissars
brought to her cell a girl, whose name happened to be
Anastasia Romanov, and asked her whether she could
not possibly be Grand Duchess Anastasia. The com-
missar explained to Princess Helen that he knew

* Statement of Vrofessor Ludwig Berg Berlin, April jith, 1928.

’ Letters to Mrs von Katblef-Keilmann from Oberlaugenblelau, Silesia,
of March jtb, Sell and >4tb, 1927.

[ 102]

CONCLUSIFE EVIDENCE

Grand Duchess Anastasia to have escaped from Eka-
terinburg.

Lieutenant-General Heroua of the Roumanian
Police Department stated in a memorandum that he
had questioned a Russian Armenian, Sarscho Grego-
rian, by name, now living in Roumania, who testified
that on his flight from Russia he met Grand Duchess
Anastasia and helped her to cross the Roumanian
frontier on December 5, 1918. On May 6, I9i9j while
staying in Kishinev, Gregorian had received, through
a messenger from Bucharest, five thousand lei sent him
by Anastasia as a return for the help he had given her.
Anastasia had also sent him a cross and an icon, and
asked him not to baptise his three children until her
return, because she wanted to be their godmother.
According to General Heroua, the Gregorian children
were still unbaptized in 1927.”

An employee of the Roumanian Ministry of War
testified that, while on a business trip through Russia
and Siberia in 1917 and early 1918, he had become
well acquainted with a certain Pole, Stanislav by name,
who served at the time in the Red Army. Towards the
end of November 1918 he met Stanislav, now wearing
neat civilian clothes, in the square of a Roumanian
town. Having sworn him to complete secrecy, Stani-
slav began to question him as to the best place for hid-
ing an injured person. The Roumanian said that it
was not so difficult, provided no crime or fraud of any
kind was involved. Whereupon, Stanislav broke down
and weeping confessed that he had rescued one of the

»» Memorandum of the Mtnhiry of the Interior, Secretariat of the
Criminal and Police Department, Bucharest, signed by Lieutenant-Gcrurnl
Ilfroua on May 4th, 1927. '

[ 103]

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE

Emperor’s daughters from Ekaterinburg. She was
wounded in the head and in the face by the blow of a
rifle butt. For the present she was still on the Russian
side, in care of Stanislav’s comrade, while Stanislav
himself had come to Koumania to prepare a safe refuge
for her.

The Roumanian’s description of Stanislav’s appear-
ance tallied exactly with Anastasia’s description of her
rescuer, the so-called Alexander Tschaikovsky.”

A Russian resident of Roumania testified that early
in 1919 he was approached, through a jeweller he knew,
by a man who was trying to sell a string of pearls. The
pearls were well matched, of a yellowish tinge, and
sewn into a piece of white cloth, in a manner which
seemed to indicate that they had been worn around the
waist.’*

The description of the o^vner of the pearls once more
matched Anastasia’s description of Alexander Tschai-
kovsky. It was an established fact that each of the
Grand Duchesses had worn, while in Ekaterinburg, a
string of pearls, sewn in white linen, around her waist
Moreover, Anastasia had described her pearls as yel-
lowish in color and stated that Tschaikovsky had sold
them sometime in 1919.

Anastasia had stated to Mrs Rathlef that she had
lived with the Tschaikovskys in Bucharest on a street
called “Saint Voevoda.” No map of Bucharest showed
a street by such a name and at first the police of

Written declaration made at the Headquarters of the Police and
General Seeurjt7 Central Brigades. Roumama- Witnessed by Officiating
Commissioner A Strojan Original noir in possession of M Zahle

I-etter to Xieutenant General Ilfroua from S M ChokoloT of
Teleihero, Roumania, dated July aoth. 1927

[ 104.]

CONCLUSIFE EVIDENCE

Bucharest denied that such a street had ever existed.
But a further investigation revealed the existence in
the oldest part of Bucharest of a little crooked lane
bearing tlie name of Saint Voevoda, or S-vente V oevoci
in Roumanian.

In 1925 in Berlin there appeared a young Russian,
who came first to the Dalldorf asylum and asked for
Anastasia Tschaikovsky. He was directed to Police
Commissioner Gruenberg, but unfortunately the com-
missioner happened to be out of town. He located,
however, a certain Miss Peuthert, who had known
Anastasia in Dalldorf, and told her that he was the
man who had brought Mrs. Tschaikovsky from Bucha-
rest to Berlin, where she had vanished. He said
further that Mrs. Tschaikovsky was Grand Duchess
Anastasia and he identified a photograph of her which
Miss Peuthert had in her possession. On the back of
that photograph he wrote in the handwriting of a half-
literate man, mixing Russian and Latin characters:

“Anastasia Nikolaeva Alexandereva. Petrograd.”
And perpendicularly to that inscription : “Ivan Alexei.
Petrograd.”

According to the old Russian usage, still prevalent
among the lower classes, particularly in Siberia, Ana-
stasia Nikolaeva Alexandrova (which latter word
peasants always did pronounce as “Alexandereva”),
meant, “Anastasia, daughter of Nicholas, grand-
daughter of Alexander.” Such indeed. Grand Duchess
Anastasia was.

Whether the names “Ivan” and “Alexei” referred
to one or two people did not appear clear. The name
“Alexei” ran off the edge of the card and may have

[ t05]

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE

been an abbreviation of “Alcxcicv” or “Alcxcievich.”

By another of those tragic accidents, of which the
life of Grand Duchess Anastasia was so full, Miss
Peuthert had advised the man to visit a certain Russian,
who at one time had been among Anastasia’s sup-
porters, but later turned against her. The man did call
at that Russian’s house, but he had never been seen or
heard of since. Miss Peuthert’s description of the
man’s appearance was identical with Anastasia’s de-
scription of the so-called Sergei Tschaikovsky, who had
brought her to Berlin. There could, in fact, be no
serious doubt that Sergei Tschaikovsky he actually
was. Had he succeeded in getting in touch with Police
Commissioner Gruenberg, Grand Duchess Anastasia’s
identity would have been formally established, with-
out the slightest difficulty, and all her misfortunes
ended.

Regarding the true identity of Anastasia's rescuers,
the only things of which one could be certain were:
first, that they had been soldiers of the Bolshevik de-
tachment which guarded the Imperial Family in
Ekaterinburg; second, that at least one of them was a
Pole; third, that they could not have used their real
names either during their flight across Russia or while
in hiding in Roumania. Whether they were actually
brothers, as they had told Anastasia, could not be cer-
tain. Indeed, in telling of Anastasia’s rescue to his
Roumanian friend, it was a comrade, not a brother,
that Stanislav had mentioned.

Be that as it may, the lists of all the Red soldiers,
who had ever guarded the Imperial Family in Eka-
terinburg contained the names of only two Poles — the
[106]

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE

brothers Nicholas and Stanislav Mishkevich — both
natives of the Ekaterinburg province, but one of whom,
Nicholas, had served as a sailor in Petro'grad.”

Obviously, Stanislav Mishkevich was Anastasia’s
rescuer, whom she knew as Alexander Tschaikovsky.
As for the other Tschaikovsky he may have been
Nicholas Mishkevich, in which case the word “Petro-
grad” he had written on the reverse of Anastasia’s
photograph may have referred to the fact of his service
in Petrograd. In some of the ofheial records he had
actually been distinguished from his brother, as
“Mishkevich from Petrograd.”

On the other hand, the word “Petrograd” may have
referred to Anastasia herself, for the peasants had nes’er
distinguished the many different residences of the
Imperial Family in the vicinity of the capital, but
considered Petrograd itself as their residence.

The inscription “Ivan Alexei” appeared of signifi-
cance, because among the Red soldiers who guarded
the Imperial Family in Ekaterinburg, there was one
by the name of Ivan Alexeievich Starkov. It seemed
likely that Nicholas Mishkevich, like most sailors of
the time, had been a convinced Bolshevik, in which
case he would hardly have assisted his brother in
rescuing Anastasia. Ivan Alexeievich Starkov, on the
other Eand, had been, like Stanislav Mishkevich, a
workman in one of the Ekaterinburg factories.

As far as Mrs. Tschaikovsky’s physical identification
as Grand Duchess Anastasia was concerned, there was
first of all her general appearance, which could only

UTh! n.o of name, apptjr to all oditloni of the „( SoloW.

Inveiticaljon. ■' j

GONGLVSIVE EVIDENCE

mean that she was either Anastasia or her double. But
she possessed also at least three marks, which even
Anastasia’s double would not be likely to have. They
were: a slight malformation of her feet, more pro-
nounced on her right foot; the mark of a burned out
wart on her left shoulder; and a scar on one of her
fingers which had been caught in a carriage door, in
Anastasia’s early childhood.

Mrs. Tschaikovsky’s many injuries showed that, like
Grand Duchess Anastasia, she had been wounded by
several bullets, struck on the face and chest with some
heavy object, probably a rifle butt, and that her foot
had been pierced with a Russian bayonet.

Her personality Was also as unmistakably Anasta-
sia’s own personality, as it was that of a child of the
last Russian Sovereigns. Even the husband of Grand
Duchess Xenia, Grand Duke AJe.vander, had admitted
in an interview, that Mrs. Tschaikovsky undeniably did
possess the personality of Grand Duchess Anastasia.
But being a spiritualist, Alexander advanced the theory
that Mrs. Tschaikovsky could well possess Anastasia’s
soul, without actually being Anastasia. A rather inter-
esting theory, somewhat complicated, however, by the
fact that Mrs. Tschaikovsky also happened to possess
Anastasia’s body; but to possess both Anastasia’s soul
and Anastasia's body, yet remain a difl'erent person,
would have been indeed an accomplishment.

In Mrs. Tschaikovsky’s recollections concerning
Anastasia’s childhood, manjyjsages of which had been
taken down by different persons at different times, there
was not a single impossible or obviously erroneous
statement, while all her verifiable statements invariably
[ 108 ]

CONCLUSIVE evidence

proved to be correct in every detail. 'jTet many.of
latter pertained to matters so little'-tnownghjtithad
taken months to obtain the necessary information about
them. In several cases, where the recollections of other
competent persons disagreed with those of Mrs.
Tschaikovsky, further investigation had proved Mrs.
Tschaikovsky to have been right.

During the many interviews with the different
people Grand Duchess Anastasia had known in her
childhood, Mrs. Tschaikovsky had never" failed to
recognize them, although, except in my own case, she
had not been told in advance by whom she was going to
he visited. In some cases she did not actually say who
her visitor was, but made some remark which showed
beyond doubt that she had recognized him. Thus, her
first question to M. Gillard, whom she had not
addressed by name, was:

“What became of your beard?”

M. Gillard had always worn a goatee, but had shaved
it off after his separation from the Imperial Family in
Siberia.

She gave a clear account of the tragic night of July
17 in Ekaterinburg. The last things she remembered
were: the sight of her father, the Emperor, falling
dead, shot through the head, and the scream of her
siveiT QbB5.,hR.W.vA mb/jSR, b.-Kk.*«, "was ’tniing.

Just before losing consciousness she had caught sight of
the wall paper, and its design had so engraved itself on
her memory that she described it in minutest detail.
Her description matched exactly the samples of the
wall paper taken from the cellar in which the Imperial
Family had been murdered.

[109]

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE

Mrs. Tschaikovsky could not, incidentally, speak
of those matters without immediately developing
fever. When informed that the brother of the Em-
peror, Grand Duke Michael, had also been killed by
the Bolsheviks, she suffered such a severe shock that she
had to be kept in bed for two days.

For seven years constantly observed by doctors,
nurses, and police officials, put many times under
anesthetics, often delirious from high fever, Mrs.
Tschaiko^ky had never displayed any signs of a per-
sonality different from the one she had in normal
circumstances. Under all conditions she remained
Grand Duchess Anastasia, preserved the same mem-
ories, expressed the same opinions, showed the same
characteristics.

Then again, while possessing an astonishing amount
of self-control in matters such as resistance to
physical pain, patience in most trying circumstances,
disregard of danger, she at the same time lacked every
ability to control her own temper and fits of moodiness
and in consequence was quite incapable of any pretense.
She was also extremely stubborn, and frank in express-
ing her opinions of events and people — often devastat-
ingly frank.

Of the doctors who had treated Mrs. Tschaikovsky,
only one, Professor Rudnev, had known Grand Duchess
Anastasia in her childhood. He was completely con-
vinced that Mrs. Tschaikovsky was Grand Duchess *
Anastasia.

The other doctors could do no more than examine
the question whether Mrs. Tschaikovsky was a fraud,
a lunatic, a person under the inQuence of cither
[no]

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE

hypnosis or autosuggestion. If she were not any of
these, then — scientifically speaking — she could be only
the person she claimed and believed herself to be, that
is, Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia.

A few characteristic passages from some of these
long medical statements are here quoted :

Dr. Lothar Nobel of the Mommsen Sanatorium in
Berlin wrote:

“I would like to state that there is no mental deficiency
whatever. During this long period of observation I have
not noticed in the patient any sign of mental d*erangcment
nor any kind of outside Influence or autosuggestion ... I
will now add a few remarks concerning the identification of
the patient. Of course, there can, on my part, be no ques-
tion of proof. However, tt appears to me impossible that
her recollections depend on suggestion, and that the knowl-
edge of many insignificant details is to be attributed to any-
thing other than her own experiences.”

Dr. Saathof of the Stillachhaus Nursing Home in
Obersdorf :

“According to the impression which her nature and her
remarks made upon me, I maintain that it is quite impossible
that this woman has emerged from the lower orders. Her
whole character . . . is so thoroughly cultivated, that, even
if nothing at all were known of her origin, she must be re-
garded as the offspring of an old, well-cultured, and, in my
opinion, extremely decadent family ... I maintain that it
is absolutely out of the question that this woman is deliber-
ately acting the part of another; and that her general be-
haviour, if regarded as a whole, does not in any way gainsay
that she is the person she says she is.”

Dr. Theodor Eitel, also of Obersdorf:

“It was not until many weeks had passed that an im-
provement gradually set in. The extreme feeling of weari-

[ IJI ]

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE

ness and the general e:xiiaustIon disappeared. The wound
in the left elbow gradually healed. Her nerves also became
somewhat calmer. She developed a sense of confidence to-
wards those with whom she came in immediate contact, felt
more confident in herself, and, according as the trivial
happenings of the day prompted her, began to talk spon-
taneously and naturally of her recollections of her child-
hood’s days with her parents at the Imperial residence. -She
next spoke of events at the Court itself, of her parents and
sisters, of journeys which she had undertaken with her
parents to the Crimea and to Germany, and described a
visit of Kaiser Wilhelm II to St. Petersburg. The accounts
were incomplete, owing to her inadequate means of ex-
pression, but they were lucid and distinct, and were given
without any exaggeration or desire to impress.

“As each month brought an increasing improvement in
her nervous condition, so did her powers of memory and of
comprehension grow stronger. The patient herself was
conscious of this improvement, and said to me one day that
she was ‘now on the'road towards becoming a normal per-
son again.’

“The fearful chaos of mental impressions during the last
six years, the awful memories and, in addition, the fan-
tastic dreams during her frequent violent attacks of de-
lirium, would surge up within her brain, and’ give her no
peace. At times, the burden of the memory of what she
had passed through would overcome her, and would plunge
her in profound melancholy and despair. She once said:

‘I must not let my mind dwell on all these things or I shall
become ill again’. All this passed off during the last weeks
of her recovery, so that the patient is now able to speak
objectively and coherently of the various things and not in
a disjointed way, as she used to do.

“Thus she can now give in a general way details of her
whole past history. She speaks of her childhood, of her
relationship with her parents, with her sisters, and particu-
larly with her brother, as wdl as of matters of an entirely
[ na]

GOlSfQLUSlVB EVIDENCE

personal nature relating to their family life. She describes
conditions at the outbreak of the War, her visits to the
hospitals, the period of captivity, the illness of her brother
during captivity, the needlework she did^ then, and tiic
changed conditions of their life during that time. She makes
all her statements with an expression of profound melan-
choly, and usually concludes by saying: ‘Mighty Russia
could not save one family.* In reply to my inquiry about
her flight from Russia, she gives me a Berlin daily paper
containing a long article dealing with it and remarks that
some part of it is correct ; but much of it is false. She herself
cannot talk of it at present. She always speaks with ex-
treme gratitude of her rescuer, Mr. Tschaikovsky. Regard-
ing Bucharest itself, to which town she was brought, she
mentions practically nothing. When, in the winter of 1919-
1920 it became unsafe for her to stop there, she fled on foot
across the border into Germany, presumably under particu-
larly difficult circumstances and in terrible weather, and
after having, some few months previously, given birth to a
child. Having reached Germany, she contemplated pro-
ceeding to her relatives. Utterly exhausted and in despair,
she states that she tried to commit suicide in February 1920.
She describes this action as her greatest ‘folly’, and as being
responsible for all the subsequent confusion and assumption
that she was mentally deranged.

“In reply to the question why she did not announce her-
self, she states that she had written a letter to her aunt.
Princess Henry of Prussia, and had hoped that matters
would then be arranged for her.

“The foregoing statements were made by' the patient
during the last few weeks, after the improvement in her
physical condition and in the state of her nerves had taken
place. . . .

“If I now express an opinion on the question of her iden-
tity, I do so because my^conclusions are based on systematic
objective observations carried on over a period of months

[“3]

GONGLXJSIFE EVIDENCE

would never have fought her as they did, had they not
been convinced themselves that she actually was Grand
Duchess Anastasia.

Indeed, what danger would an impostor represent
to the Grand Duke of Hessen-Darmstadt? l^onel

If Anastasia was an impostor, her testimony concern-
ing his war-time trip to Russia would be utterly value-
less. Only if she was Grand Duchess Anastasia, only if
she had actually seen him in the palace of her father,
the Russian Emperor, and could give a convincing
account of his visit, was she dangerous to him. And
dangerous he obviously believed her to be, for only a
casual examination of the cost of his campaign against
her showed it to be at least $10,000, and in all probabil-
ity much more than that. What man in his senses would
spend such an amount to expose an impostor, when the
cleverest impostor could be proved to be such without
the expenditure of a single cent?

Why would the Grapd Duchesses Xenia and Olga
become so excited over a mere impostor? There had
been any number of them in the course of the last nine
years and nobody had ever paid any attention to them.

But ever since their escape from Russia the sisters
had been frying to find and inherit as much property
of their late brother, the Emperor, as they could. They
had found some in Germany, in Finland, but it was in
England that the real fortune was supposed to be kept;
and that fortune they could not locate until Anastasia
iiad told them where to look for it.

Again, if Anastasia was an impostor, if her story
about the fortune in England was untrue— as Xenia
and Olga were now assuring all their friends— why

( 116]

THE FMPEROR WITJI GRAND DUCHESS TATIANA IN-
WINTER or 19I7.IB

rOROl.SK,

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE

. . . There are absolutely no symptoms of mental derange*
ment| and no definite and conclusive indications of psycho-
pathic conditions. The question of autosuggestion cannot be
entertained. There is absolutely no sign of hysteria, de-
lusions or hypnosis , . ,

"In Mrs. Tschaikovsky one recognizes a personality of
exceptionally high ethical qualities. Her high persona!
qualities, her noble nature, her pronounced truthfulness in
small as well as in large matters, the distinguished detach-
ment of her personality — all these features which she dis-
played to everyone right from the outset, force one to the
conclusion that Mrs. Tschaikovsky, from the earliest child-
hood, had been brought up in the highest circles. . . .

"Our own observations, together with the statements of
Professor Rudnev and the meeting at this place with Mrs.
Melnik, daughter of the personal physician to the Czar, all
force us to the conclusion that Mrs. Tschaikovsky is, in fact.
Her Highness Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna."

Such briefly— only very briefly — ^was the nature of
the evidence, confirming the fact of Grand Duchess
Anastasia’s identity. Moreover, a day hardly passed
without some significant incident adding further to that
evidence.

For instance, I was still in Berlin when Anastasia
sent to Ambassador Zahle one of her photographs taken
in Finland in 1914. Still as fond of practical jokes as
she had always been, Anastasia sent the photograph,
without any accompanying note or indication as to who
its sender was. And Ambassador Zahic who, in the
meantime, had been forced to sign a statement which
denied her identity, answered her by return maif,
thanking her for having sent him her "latest" picture
and expressing his joy that, judging by that picture,

[ 114]

CONCLUSIVE evidence

her health must have greatly improved in the last few
months.”

It was also in Berlin that I was visited by the noto-
rious Prince Felix Youssoupov— the murderer of Ras-
putin and son-in-law of Grand Duchess Xenia. At first
he pretended to be entirely impartial in regard to the
case of “Mrs. Tschaikovsky,” but he admitted finally
that he had come with the definite purpose of luring
me over into the camp of the Grand Duchesses Xenia
and Olga.

I declined the invitation most emphatically, but in
the course of one of our debates, Mrs. von Rathlef , who
happened to be present, showed Youssoupov a recent
photograph of “Mrs. Tschaikovsky’s” hands. And
Youssoupov who kept insisting that “Mrs. Tschaikov-
sky” did not possess the slightest resemblance to any
member of the Imperial Family, seized that photo-
graph and exclaimed :

“But where did you get this picture of Her Majesty’s
hands?” ”

There were many other people — both friends and
enemies of Anastasia — ^whom I met in Berlin. And the

general conclusion I reached from all my investigations
and conversations was of the most depressing kind.

The case of Grand Duchess Anastasia was so clear
so fully proved and verified in every detail, that nobody
well familiar with it could conceivably have any doubts
as to her identity. More than that, her opponents

ph,.,g;,.ph in i, „p,njn„d .pp.,i„ p,g, ,,

*»This incident occurred in the presence of Prnf*..« t> j
confirmed by him in hh affidavit of April 91b, 1929. and -was

[” 5 ]

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE

then would they care about her at all? Only, if Anas-
tasia’s information concerning that fortune were true,
did Xenia’s and Olga’s fear of her become at all ex-
plicable. But if she had a better knowledge of tlie
Emperor’s personal financial affairs than his own sisters
had, how then could there be any doubt as to her
identity? Still further, it was only if her identity was
provable that Anastasia could interfere with Xenia’s
and Olga’s plan of inheriting the Emperor’s money.
What bank would refuse to turn over money to right-
ful heirs because of unprovable pretensions of an
obvious impostor?

Once again, why should Grand Duke Cyril be at all
interested in an impostor? No doubt, his very hope of
restoring monarchy in Russia was childish. Yet all
Romanovs and a vast number of Russian monarchists
did have sueh a hope — indeed, were certain that
sooner or later monarchy in Russia would be restored.
And if one assumed the possibility of a restoration, then
it could not be denied that Anastasia’s chances of being
placed on the Russian throne were infinitely stronger
than those of Grand Duke Cyril. But only the real
Anastasia’s. The very thought that a fraud — an insane
Polish peasant, especially — could become the Empress
of Russia was self;evidently absurd. " '

In short, the very people who denied Anastasia’s
identity and fought her with such ruthlessness and
bitterness had also to be the people most convinced of
the fact that she was, in truth, Grand Duchess Anas-
tasia. Only that conviction could make them fear her
and desire her undoing.

But this meant further that there was no hope of

[ ” 7 ]

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE

ever inducing them to acknowledge Anastasia. They
did not have to be convinced of her identity, because
they knew it; it was only because they did know it that
they were persecuting her. All one could hope for
was to force them to acknowledge Anastasia; and the
only way to force them was to have Anastasia’s identity
formally established in a court of law.

Whether Anastasia herself wanted to take such a
^step I did not as yet know, and, of course, without her
approval it neither could nor should be taken. But I
did know that Anastasia wanted — desperately so — to
have her true name and identity restored to her; that
it was unbearable for her to live "as an eternal question
mark," as she herself had once expressed it; that to a
woman of her pride and sensitivity the accusation of
being an impostor was unendurable.

In consequence, one could hardly doubt, that sooner
or later she would decide to start a legal fight for her
recognition. In such a case, on whose support and
assistance could she count? On nobody’s.

Of her close relatives, it was, strangely enough,
Cyril’s brother, Grand Duke Andrew, who alone
appeared at all friendly. He had even started an in-
vestigation of her case, but from what I had seen it had
produced few tangible results.

How much Anastasia could count on her other par-
tisans I already. had the opportunity to find out, in
connection with ^he matter of her passport. They did
not even dare to state formally that she was a Russian.

The person who seemed willing to die for Anastasia,
if necessary, was Mrs. von Rathlef. But she had
neither money nor friends.

[ii8]

CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE

No. It seemed clear that the Grand Duchess could
not expect any permanent support in Europe. Whether
I myself could obtain any help for her in the United
States I did not know. But it was the only hope; and
to the United States I hastened to return.

FURTHER DIFFICULTIES

I T WAS only at the time of my return to the United
States in June, 1927, that I realised to what extent
I had become Americanised during my four and
a half years in this country. Not that Europe had lost
any of its charm for me, but back in New York I ex-
perienced the pleasant sensation of having returned
home. It was the more pleasant because at the time
of my escape from Russia I had had little hope of ever
feeling myself at home anywhere in the world. Per-
haps, the phase of American life to which I had be-
come particularly accustomed, and which more than
anything else made me feel at home in this country, was
the comparative straightforwardness and informality
of human relations.

Had I never noticed any of the proverbial American
hypocrisy? I had — plenty of it; but compared to Eu-
rope even hypocrisy in this country was too obvious to
matter much. Moreover, that hypocrisy made itself
felt chiefly in the realm of abstract ideas — moral and
political ones especially. la Europe 'it was not mere
hypocrisy, but a falsehood, often subtle, almost un-
noticeable, yet all-pcrvading and profoundly devastat-
•nxg.

Was it hypocrisy, for instance, on my cousin’s part
to say that Mrs. Tschaikovsky w’as either Grand
Duchess Anastasia or a miracle and that he did not be-
[ *20 ]

FURTHER DIFFICULTIES

lieve in miracles, yet insist in the same breath that he
was not at all convinced of Her ide^ti^y? Whatever the
proper name for such an attitude could be, it made one
feel as in one of those dreams wherein the food served
never gets into one’s mouth, the money suddenly ac-
quired fails to make one rich, and the beautiful woman
vanishes without trace at the very moment when the
reality of her love promised to become a certainty.

Again, Europeans were so much more polite than'
Americans; and it was pleasant to be among polite
people — for a while. But one soon realised that all
those bows, smiles, protestations'of “perfect respect and
equal devotion,” were mere formalities which meant
nothing at all. One constantly saw people treating
each other as the closest friends, only to discover that
they were actually the worst of enemies.

How pleasant, for instance, my conversation with the
lamentable Felix Youssoupov would have sounded to
an outsider. “You alone of all the people connected
with the case of Mrs. Tschaikovsky,” he was assuring
me, “stand above all suspicion, are, in virtue of your
name and reputation, immune to all accusations of be-
ing motivated by ulterior considerations.” ^

. Needless to say, I had to answer him in kind and-
we had finally exhausted all’superlatives in extollinj:
each other’s viftues. But onAhe same day the good
Felix wrote a letter to the sisret of the late Empress,
the Dowager'Marchioness of Milford Haven, begging
her, in case I were to visit lier, not to believe a single
word of mine. My own opinion^of Felix the bravest
editor would never have dared to print.

Yet -Youssoupov was by no means the most danger-

[ I2I ]

FURTHER DIFFICULTIES

ous type, because, at least, to use a Russian expression,
he bore his passport on his face. But there were many
other people, connected with Anastasia’s case in one
way or another, of whom I was never able to tell — ^who,
perhaps, did not know themselves — on which side they
actually belonged.

Nor could the question be answered on the basis of
their actual beliefs. Just as so many people were hos-
tile to Anastasia and denounced her as an impostor, for
the very reason that they knew her to be the Grand
Duchess, so there were enough adventurers quite will-
ing to side with Anastasia, without having any convic-
tion in the matter, simply in the’hope of deriving even-
tually some benefit from such a connection.

Not a few there were also, who pretended to be Anas-
tasia’s friends and even kept offering all sorts of evi-
dence substantiating her claim, but evidence which
upon closer examination proved to be spurious. Some
were, no doubt, doing it with deliberate malice, in the
hope of exposing their own fabrications, were I naive
enough to use them.

But to me at least, most exasperating were the peo-
ple, like my own cousin, who said one thing in private
and another in public, who never stated clearly their
actual beliefs, wanted to serve one side, yet remain on
friendly terms with the other, and above everything
else were not even conscious of being insincere. In
short, they wanted to eat their cake and have it, or, as
Russians say, acquire ca})ital and remain innocent.
In their own estimation they acted not only in a per-
fectly honourable, but also the only sensible way. In-
deed, by never saying or doing anything definite, they
[ 122 ]

FURTHER DIFFICULTIES

could never be accused of having said or done the
■wrong thing. That they also could never be credited
with having said or done the right thing did not seem
to disturb them in the least.

But in New York people were different. They did
not pretend to be friendly when they were actually hos-
tile, nor to believe things which they did not. In New
York I did not have to strain myself guessing whether
Mr. So-and-So or Mrs. Such-and-Such were likely to
help Grand Duchess Anastasia. The only trouble was
that most of them were not.

Even with the publication of my articles on Anas-
tasia I ran into considerable diffieulties. It so hap-
pened that the syndicate, with which I had reached
a tentative agreement before going to Europe, had
been given a new general-manager — a complete
stranger to me. Besides, at the time of my original
negotiations with the syndicate, none of us knew what
articles, if any, I was going to write, or what was the
actual status of the so-called Mrs. Tschaikovsky’s case.
But when the editors discovered how bitter a contro-
versy, involving so many powerful personages, had de-
veloped about the question of Mrs. Tschaikovsky’s
identity they became scared.

In the end, however, they agreed to print most of my
material, but in the form of a personal account rather
than a legal brief, as I had planned, and with the de-
scription of the various plots against Anastasia limited
to vague hints which appeared none too convincing.

In spite of such limitations, my articles did produce
a certain impression. Unfortunately, the curiosity thev
aroused in the United States was a purely academic

[t23]

FURTHER DIFFICULTIES

one. In Europe they caused a minor storm and did
scare Anastasia’s enemies considerably. They also pro-
voked M. Gillard into writing a letter to the General-
Manager of my syndicate, offering — for a price — to
expose both “Mrs. Tschaikovsky” and the conspiracy
I had supposedly organised in her favour. That letter
proved of decided help to me.

“A fine gentleman that Gillard must bel” the Gen-
eral-Manager, who until then had shown very little
enthusiasm for Anastasia’s case, said to me. “Now I
can well believe all you say about Anastasia and her
enemies. I am glad we published your articles and
shall publish more any time you may want to give the
matter further publicity.”

It was a most valuable offer of which I actually
availed myself about a year later.

In the meantime, however, my main task remained to
bring Grand Duchess Anastasia over to the United
States, as soon as possible; but all my efforts to interest
in her case such of my friends and acquaintances, who
had enough money and connections to be of help to me
proved futile.

I knew a number of wealthy and influential people
in this country, and some of them had always treated
me in the friendliest manner and, often enough, helped
me personally. But whether it was their distrust of my
poverty or my own distrust of their wealth, or yet the
fact that few of them seemed much interested in any-
thing, except business, golf, and cocktail parties — none
of which interested me — my relations with them had
ne\'er been quite as intimate as with such of my friends,
who were as poor or almost as poor as myself.

[ 124]

FURTHER DIFFICULTIES

The latter knew me and trusted me and became as
excited over the fate of Grand Duchess Anastasia as I
was myself. But, like myself, they personally were
quite unable to do anything for her. As for my wealthy
friends and acquaintances, they listened to all my re-
ports on Anastasia with benevolent and patronizing
smiles, which indicated clearly that they regarded me
as either slightly unbalanced or associated with some
kind of racket. To he sure, they did not voice such sus-
picions in my presence, but I learned soon enough that
they were expressing them in my absence. And, of
course, whether they suspected me of being not quite
right in the head or of having devised a scheme for bor-
rowing money, they all expressed their polite regrets
that they could not possibly be of any help to me.

Among the local Russians, I knew but very few peo-
ple and could count the real friends on my fingers.
These latter were all as poor as myself, and some —
impossible as it might seem — even poorer. I did not,
therefore, even attempt to approach any of them, but
the news of my recognition of Grand Duchess Anas-
tasia spread rapidly through the Russian colony and,
on the whole, provoked open hostility.

Some of the Russians also accused me of advocating
Anastasia’s cause in the hope of making money by it
but the majority of them, not being as financially
minded as Americans, were more inclined to suspect
me of sinister political conspiracies.

It was the same resourceful M. Gillard who, as far
back as the beginning of rpaS, had started the ’legend
that Grand Duchess Anastasia had been "invented” bv
the Bolsheviks; although what the Bolsheviks could

C'2i]

FURTHER DIFFICULTIES

In the meantime, the Leuchtcnhergs were getting
restless and asking me in every letter, when it would be
possible for “the Little One" to start for the United
States.

I had made the round of all my wealthier friends,
talked to some of them not once, but many times — all
to no avail. I went so far as to approach people, whom
I knew only very casually and even some whom I had
never known at all. But all my efforts proved vain.
Worse than that, my very persistence seemed to make
people only the more suspicious of my true motives;
some became well-nigh insulting.

My own uncle, Peter Botkin, who was married to a
wealthy American, not only refused me all help but
from his retreat in Switzerland began to write letters
to all his wife’s relatives in this country, trying to con-
vince them of the malicious nature of my intentions.
To be sure, I should never have approached him, for
he himself had confessed to me that “Emperor” Cyril
had made him his “Foreign Minister.” But I had
hoped against hope that this uncle, who was always
boasting about his loyalty to the late Sovereigns, might
forget all such nonsense and come to the defence of the
unfortunate Grand Duchess.

On the whole, however, his letters to his American
relatives and friends proved, if anything, of help to
. me, just as M. Gillard’s letter to my syndicate had.
His attacks on me were so vitriolic and his accusations
against me — ^which naturally included the same old
story about the Masonie super-government — so fantas-
tic, that they aroused far greater scepticism than my
own efforts to prove that the so-called Mrs. Tschaikov-

[127]

PVRTHER DIFFICULTIES

sky was in reality Grand Duchess Anastasia. I re-
ceived even a few sympathetic messages from the
recipients of my uncle’s letters.

My attempts to stir up such members of the Russian
Imperial Family, who had not as yet taken any part in
the case, also proved futile. In those days the former
Commander-in-Chief, Grand Duke Nicholas, was still
alive, and while making no claims to the throne had
nevertheless announced hts intention of marching into
Russia at the head of the so-called White troops and
establishing a Government of his own. He had already
formed a cabinet in Paris and in 1926 offered me the
post of his Secretary of the Treasury. I-had declined
the honour but corresponded with the Grand Duke
from time to time irough his “Prime-Minister”
Prince Obolensky.

When I had asked my cousin, Sergius, what the
Grand Duke’s attitude cowards Anastasia was, he an-
swered ;

“Not unfriendly, and he may even acknowledge her
formally as Grand Duchess Anastasia, provided he
could be convinced that such a move on his part would
cause sufficient embarrassment to Cyril.” *

I wrote a long letter to Grand Duke Nicholas,
but received no answer except indirectly, through a
statement to the press, wherein the Grand Duke an-
nounced that he had received an exhaustive report on
the subject of Mrs. Tschaikovsky’s identity and was
studying it with interest. He continued to study it
with interest to the very day of his death several years
later.

Grand Duke Andrew alone wrote me several very
[128]

FURTHER DIFFICULTIES

friendly letters, admitting his virtual certainly that
Mrs. Tschaikovsky or “A. T.” as he called her, was
actually his cousin, Grand Duchess Anastasia. He even
offered his help in establishing her identity through the
courts, but every one of his letters stressed the need of
money for the purpose. To obtain Anastasia’s formal
recognition through the courts, $50,000 was needed,
which, he hoped,T would raise in the United States ; in
the meantime, in order to continue his investigation,
$4,000 was necessary, which he hoped I eould secure at
once.

But in the meantime, day after day passed, and week
after week, and not only had I failed to raise a single
cent for Anastasia’s journey to the United States, but
my very hope of ever raising it was beginning to wane
rapidly.

Those were extremely trying days. Luckily, a few
friends stood loyally by me and helped me to' keep up
my courage. I also found much consolation in writing
my first novel, which subsequently was published under
the title: The God JVho Didn't Laughs
Then, towards the end of the summer, an old friend
of my family, Mrs. Margharita Derfelden, told me that
Princess Xenia of Russia was eager to see me and hear
my story about Grand Duchess Anastasia. Mrs. Der-
felden was by birth an American, but had been mar-
ried first to a Russian naval officer, who had perished
in the Japanese war, and later to a General of the Em-
peror’s suite, Christopher Derfelden. After the Revo-
lution, Mrs. Derfelden, whose second husband had
died some time previously, returned With her two
daughters to the United States.

L129]

FURTHER DIFFICULTIES

Mrs. Dcrfcldcn had been a close friend of several
members of the Imperial Family, including Grand
Duke George, the father of Princess Xenia. “Little
Xenia,” as the Princess was often called to distinguish
her from the Emperor's sister, Grand Duclicss Xenia,
had married Mr. William B. Leeds after the Revolu-
tion and settled permanently in the United States.,

Mrs. Dcrfcldcn, who was very fond of the “little”
Xenia, had often spoken to me about her and several
times offered to introduce me to her. But as Xenia was
not only a princess, but also the wife of a wealthy
American, and so many Russian refugees were trying
to win her favour, I preferred to keep away from her.
Now, however, that the Princess herself became inter-
ested in the ease of Grand Duchess Anastasia, whose
second cousin, incidentally, she was, 1 was naturally
only too glad to accept her invitation and at the ap-
pointed hour arrived at the Leeds' estate in Oyster Bay.

The only time I had seen Princess Xenia in Russia
was several years before the war, when I met her with
her father, Grand Duke George, at an exhibition of
modern French painters. Being by several years my
junior she was then but a little girl — a very lovely little
girl with beautiful brown curls, brown eyes, and
dressed up like an expensive doll.

She was now in her early twenties and, as I had
known from pictures of her long before my visit to
Oyster Bay, unusually handsome. In real life I found
her 'even more so than in her piefutes. She was a
woman of medium height, slim, well proportioned,
with regular features, dark brown bobbed hair, large
'dark eyes, a straight nose, and the kind of small but

[ 130]

FURTHER DIFFICULTIES

full-lipped mouth, which the Russians call a “butterfly
mouth.” She looked so young that it was difficult to
realise that she had been married for some time and
had a daughter several years old.

I could sec little resemblance to the Emperor’s
daughters in her appearance, but a great deal of it in
her manners, even in her speech, for like the Grand
Duchesses she seemed to speak Russian with an English
accent and English with a Russian accent, but a kind of
accent which only added charm to her speech. Being
near-sighted she had the habit of looking at one very
attentively through her lorgnette, which she raised
constantly to her eyes

'Altogether Princess Xenia impressed me as an ex-
tremely attractive person, but our conversation did not
begin in a very friendly manner She received me with
considerable coolness, which annoyed me the more be-
cause I had never asked to be received by her, but came
in response to her own invitation Moreover, she
started at once to complain — rather tactlessly it seemed
to me — about the many Russian refugees, who were
pestering her with requests for money.

“All Russians are such beggars,” she observed.
“They always beg for money.”

“Indeed, they do," I agreed “As a matter of Sset,
I have in my pocket a letter from Your Highness’
cousin, one of the Grand Dukes, wherein he asks me
for money. It is just as Your Highness says— Russians
always beg for money ”

Princess Xenia looked at me with a puzzled expres-
sion on her face, but in a moment we both burst into
laughter. Instantly the Princess became a perfectly

[t3i]

FURTHER DIFFICULTIES

natural and friendly person, and I proceeded to report
to her all I knew about the case of Grand Duchess
Anastasia. Xenia listened attentively and when I had
finished, said:

“Now I can hardly doubt that she is actually Grand
Duchess Anastasia. What a tragedy] I must do some-
thing for her!”

“There is only one thing I cannot quite understand,”
I said. “It is clear to me that the people, who persecute
Grand Duchess Anastasia, are not only acting in bad
faith in denying her identity, but are persecuting her
for the very reason that they are convinced of it. And
the motives of at least two of them, the Grand Duke of
Hessen-Darmstadt and Grand Duke Cyril, are quite
obvious to me. What puzzles me is the role of the
Grand Duchesses Xenia and Olga. Every bit of evi-
dence indicates clearly that they are denouncing Anas-
tasia as an impostor, because they are trying to inherit
her fortune kept in the Bank of England. But it is
hard for me to believe that the sisters of the Emperor
could be capable of such disloyalty.”

Princess Xenia remained silent for a while and then
said: “After all the things I myself have seen and ex-
perienced, I am ready to believe almost anything.”

We discussed the case of Grand Duchess Anastasia
further, going into many details. In the end Princess
Xenia said that she was thinking seriously of inviting
Anastasia to Oyster Bay. She told me, however, that
strange as it seemed, she was always in financial diffi-
culties, and that it would perhaps take her a little time
to get the money necessary for Anastasia’s journey.
Also, before doing anything definite, she wanted to

[ 13a]

FURTHER DIFFICULTIES

consult her uncle, Prince Christopher o{ Greece, whose
arrival she expected in a few days.

“But what shall we do about the Grand Duchess’s
passport?” I asked. “I do not think that any American
Consul is likely to visa the sort of provisional certificate
of identity she has."

“Don’t worry about that,” Princess Xenia said. “I
am certain that I could arrange the matter through the
Secretary of Labor. He served in his youth in one
of the Leeds’ factories and is very much devoted to
the Leeds. Besides, Anastasia will need only a tourist
visa, which is not so difficult to obtain. Why should
anybody object to her visit, once I shall guarantee her
maintenance?"

When the time came for me to leave. Princess Xenia
very graciously offered me her car. But her chauffeur
happened to have his day off and I did not know how
to drive a car,

“I can’t drive very well either,” the Princess said,
“I am just trying to learn. If you want to take a chance
I shall drive you to Hempstead. Only I warn you that
it may cost you your life.”

I was only too willing to risk my life in so pleasant a
manner, but we reached Hempstead without mishap.

I was both delighted with the results of my meeting
with Princess Xenia and bewitched by her personality.
To have Grand Duchess Anastasia come to the United
States as a guest, not of some strange Americans, but
her own cousin, a Princess of the Imperial Family
surpassed my best hopes. The more I thought of the
situation, the stronger I felt inelined to believe that the

tt33]

FURTHER DIFFICULTIES

solution of Anastasia’s case would, under the circum*
stances, become only a matter of time.

It would be impossible for Princess Xenia to have
Grand Duchess Anastasia in her house for any length
of time, without becoming fully convinced of her iden-
tity. And the testimony of Princess Xenia would mean
ever so much more than the testimony of all the other
people who had to date acknowledged Anastasia, in-
cluding myself.

Indeed, the acknowledgment of Anastasia by Xenia
would eliminate, I thought, all need of any court ac-
tion. Princess Xenia was very much liked by both
Queen Mary of England and the Russian Empress
Dowager Marie. And, needless to say, were Anastasia
acknowledged formally by Queen Mary and Empress
Marie, her trials would be over.

A week or so after our first meeting, Princess Xenia
invited me again to Oyster Bay to meet Prince Christo-
pher at dinner. He was a son of a Danish father—-
King George I of Greece, brother of the Russian Em-
press Dowager Marie — and a Russian mother — Queen
Olga of Greece, granddaughter of Emperor Nicholas
I of Russia. Thus, he had nothing Greek about him
save his title; and even that he had had to change of-
ficially to “Prince of Denmark,” at the time of his mar-
riage to the cider Mrs. Leeds, whom the Greek King
had refused to accept into the Greek Royal Family.
Christopher was related to both the Leeds, for Princess
Xenia W’as his nicce and Mr. Leeds his step-son.

He was a man Jn his early forties, rather tall but
plump and not e.xactly regal in appearance. At first
glance I should have taken him for a German of the

[ 134]

FURTHER DIFFICULTIES

middle classes. His manners too were not especially
dignified. He fidgeted, giggled, and chatted^ inces-
santly in a mixture of several languages, including the
Russian, which, by the way, he spoke without an accent.
The general impression he made on me was not exactly
pleasant, and I could find not the slightest resemblance
in him to the late Russian Emperor, whose first cousin
he was. But in a superficial, drawing-room manner he
was quite amusing, for he possessed a certain wit and
an inexhaustible store of funny anecdotes.

Princess Xenia asked me to tell her uncle the story
of Grand Duchess Anastasia, and, as soon as I had
finished my account, the Prince declared that there
could not be the slightest doubt as to Anastasia’s iden-
tity. I felt rather astonished at the ease with which he
allowed himself to be convinced. When I asked him
what he thought of the role of Grand Duchess Olga in
the matter, he shrugged his shoulders and with a wave
of his hand said:

**Ah, Olga knows, of course, better than anybody else
that she is Anastasia.”

Xenia and I exchanged triumphant glances.

“Then would you help us with our problem?” asked
Princess Xenia, turning to her uncle. “We both feel
that Anastasia is not safe in Europe, and I want to bring
’ner over’nere. liut'it may ta'ke me some time to make
all the necessary arrangements, and it is important to
get Anastasia out of Germany as soon as possible. You
have a lovely palace in Italy and, as far as I know
nobody lives in it. Would you permit me to have
Anastasia taken at once to your palace in Italy, whence
I shall eventually bring her over to this country?”

t^35]

rURTHtR DIFFICULTIES

“An excellent idea!” Prince Christopher exclaimed
“Yes, she will be quite comfortable m my palace in
Italy ”

Again the Princess and I exchanged congratulatory
glances

After dinner Prince Christopher produced a maga
zine with one of Gillard’s articles and proceeded, much
to my satisfaction, to criticise it ruthlessly Anybody
could see what Gillard is, the Prince asserted

“There is only one unpleasant feature in the whole
affair,” Christopher said to me “Somehow Anastasia
seems to be always surrounded by Jews How do you
explain that?”

“What Jews?” I asked, astonished

“Well, how about Mrs von Rathlef Keilmann?"
the Prince asked “Keilmann — ^isn’t that her maiden
name? It sounds Jewish to me ”

“It easily may be Jewish,” I agreed, “although she
told me that she was born in the Lutheran faith and
some years ago was converted to Roman Catholicism
But it IS quite possible, of course, that she is of Jewish
descent ”

“And who is that Dr Sonucnschein, who at one time
appears to have been interested in Anastasia?” the
Prince asked

I felt rather astonished that Christopher, who at the
beginning of our conversation assured me that he had
never before heard any mention of Anastasia’s case, now
displayed such familiarity with it The role of Dr
Sonnenschein had not been a very piominent one

“Dr Sonnenschein,” I explained, “is a Roman
Catholic priest, and the head of a charitable Catholic
[ 136]

FURTHER DIFFICULTIES

organization. He is ^vell known in Berlin as a philan-
thropist. He became interested in the case through
Police Commissioner Gruenberg, and a few months be-
fore the appearance on the scene of Ambassador Zahlc,
had arranged to have the Grand Duchess admitted into
a Roman Catholic hospital.”

“I sec,” the Prince said. “Nevertheless, Sonnen-
schein is a Jewish name.”

“It sounds Jewish enough,” I agreed. “But what
of it?”

“Oh, nothing,” Christopher said. “Except that it is
unfortunate for Anastasia to have so many Jewish
names associated with her story.”

“How could Anastasia be held responsible for the
names of the people who happened to come to her
aid?” Princess Xenia observed.

“Of course, she couldn’t,” Christopher hastened to
agree.

The rest of the evening passed most pleasantly and
it was only after one o’clock in the morning that I left
Oyster Bay. It now became difficult to doubt that
Anastasia’s trials were indeed over. Even if I did not
like Prince Christopher very much, I was greatly
pleased by his repeated promises to do everything he
could for Grand Duchess Anastasia. He certainly
could do a lot. I also felt very grateful to him for hav-
ing placed his palace in Italy at Anastasia’s disposal.
As for Princess Xenia, she had assured me in the course
of the evening, that she could no longer have the slight-
est doubt in regard to Anastasia’s identity; and I could
see that she was extremely pleased with my success in
having also convinced her uncle of it

ti37]

rURTHtR DirnCVLTlES

But m> jO) at tins neu development proved <omc
what premature On the fonowin;;da) Princess Xenia
called me up on the tciephane and card
“I don’t know whether it is m> uncle or I, but one
of us must be crazj ”

“Wh>, w hat’s happened, Your Highness?” I asked,
alarmed

“Did Uncle Christopher agree jesterday to have
Anastasia taken to his palace in Ital>, or didn’t he?"
Xenia asked

“Of course, he did,” I answered
“And did he tell us that he was quite convinced that
Anastasia was actual!) Anastasia?” she asked again
“Of course, he did,” I repeated “In fact, he was so
positive about It that I had the impression that he must
have known all about the case and been convinced of
Anastasia’s idcntit) for quite some lime ”

“^Vc^, to da) I asked him when Anastasia could be
taken to his palace in Italy,” Princess Xenia said, “and
he threw up his arms and began to shout ‘Keep me
out of this mess and, if )ou want my advice, keep out of
It )Ourself 1’ How do you explain that?”

“I don’t,” I said “It seems altogether inexplicable ”
“If he docs not believe her to be Anastasia and never
wanted to help her,” the Princess continued, “then why
didn’t he tell us so from the very first? What was he
thinking about all evening )cstcrday, when he kept as
sucing tfs of hfs wiUiRQness to help U5?”

“Indeed, what w as he thinking of?” I said ‘ But this
IS just the sort of thing you meet with in this case at
every step ”

[ 138 ]

FURTHER DIFFICULTIES

“I must say that I no longer understand anything,"
Princess Xenia said.

“Neither do I,” I confessed. “But svhat are your
own plans now?”

“My plans hate not changed,” the Princess said em-
phatically. “I will bring Anastasia overl"

I heaved a sigh of relief. “This is terribly good of
youl” I said.

“But you must understand that the situation has now
become much more difficult for me,” Xenia said. “I
counted on my uncle’s support, but now I must do
everything mjself.”

"As long as Your Highness remains determined to
help the Grand Duchess, I am certain that everything
will come out well,” I assured her. “On my part I will
gladly do anything I can to help you.”

The Princess promised to get in touch with me soon,
and hung up the receiver

Annoying as that little contretemps with Prince
Christopher was, I felt by no means discouraged. On
the contrary, I had not liked that prince, anyivay. But
every time 1 saw Princess Xenia or only heard her voice
over the telephone, I felt more and more convinced
that in her I had found at last one member of the
Russian Imperial Family — not counting Grand Duch-
ess Anastasia — ^whom 1 could respect, trust, and faith-
fully serve Indeed, now that in her very first attempt
to help Grand Duchess Anastasia she had met with
that same duplicity on the part of her own uncle that
Anastasia had faced on the part of so many of her
relatives, I felt eager to assist Princess Xenia, not only

[ 139 ]

rURTIIER DirriCULTIKS

bccauje of her hindncis lotvanli 'Anastaiia, but alio for
her own lake.

NoihinK could now plcaic me more than to ice fo
charminf; a pcrion ai IVinccii Xenia become Anas*
taila's saviour, ant! receive all the acclaim and grati-
tude of which her ultimate victory in lo noble a fight
would eniurc her. In truth, how wonderful and mo\'-
ing it would be, I muted, to have these two lovely
princeiscs, Anattasla, *'ihc Little One,” and the “little
Xenia” — together defying and defeating the hosts of
their bitter enemies. I even wrote a letter to Princess
Xenia, expressing my feeling* on the lubject and the
devotion that she inspired in me.

She seemed pleased with my letter and reiterated her
determination, not only to bring Grand Duchess Anas-
tasia to this country*, but to obtain her formal recogni-
tion. She, however, asked me in return, fint, to help
her with all the necessary formalities and correspond-
ence, and second, to consider her in charge of the sit-
uation and refrain from any action of my own —
especially from giving the ease any further publicity.

To the Imperial Family nothing was so abhorrent as
publicity, Princess Xenia explained. Besides, neither
publicity nor any court action would now be ncccssar)'.

It W.1S her plan to bring about a happy solution of
Anastasia’s ease through her family connections. She
would let the Grand Duchess have n good rest in the
peace and safety of O^-stcr Bay and then take her
quietly on a visit to tJic Empress Dowager.

I was delighted with this plan. To be sure, it was
said that the Empress Dowager refused to believe in
the tragic death of her son and grandchildren, and for
[140]

FURTHER DIFFICULTIES

that reason alone she would not listen to the story of
Grand Duchess Anastasia, which confirmed the fact of
the Ekaterinburg massacre. But I was not afraid of
that. Not for a moment did I doubt that a single
glance at her youngest granddaughter would suffice to
open the Empress’s eyes to the truth and make her
hasten to Anastasia’s support.

Although I no longer had any respect for Anastasia’s
Russian aunts and German uncle, I still had enough
respect for Royalty collectively, to he only too pleased
with the possibility of having Grand Duchess Anas-
tasia reinstated in all her rights, without making the
ugly conduct of her nearest relatives publicly known.

1 gladly promised Princess Xenia to do nothing
without her permission, and to devote myself entirely
to the duties of being her assistant in the case.

ARRIVAL IN THE UNITED STATES

P RINCESS Xenia kept her promise and invited
Grand Duchess Anastasia to come to Oi'ster Bay.
The Lcuchtenbcrgs were delighted and, accord-
ing to them, the Grand Duchess herself was very
pleased. Through the united efforts of the American
Consul in Munich and my cousin, Sergius, a way was
found to grant Anastasia a visa, permitting her to visit
the United States for a minimum stay of six months.

The sudden zeal displayed by Cousin Sergius
amused me not a little. In all his previous negotia-
tions with me he had seemed afraid of doing anything
and dismissed all my plans and suggestions as impossi-
ble. But now that Princess Xenia had become inter-
ested in the matter, Sergius displayed quite astonishing
energy and resourcefulness. Luckily, my good cousin
did not suspect in the least, that actually he was still
corresponding with me, for Princess Xenia did no
more than afBx her signature to the letters I wrote.

I was overjoyed at such a rapid materialization of
my dream. Soon nothing remained except for either
Princess Xenia herself — as she had originally planned
— ox, 'uuDfwnthftr. cbnin<vfa Gnrjnany

and bring the Grand Duchess over. But week after
week passed and nothing happened. Whenever I asked
Princess Xenia how soon she hoped to send for Anas-
[ ]

ARRIVAL IN THE VNITED STATES
tasia she answered evasively that she was not yet quite
ready.

I noticed that her attitude towards me was no longer
as friendly as it had been at first. She also seemed
worried and one day said to me:

“You cannot imagine all the trouble I am having on
account of Anastasia. Nobody wants to help me. All
my relatives make fun of me. Uncle Christopher is
quite impassible. If he only notices that I am writing
a letter to somebody about Anastasia he begins to laugh,
dance around my chair, push my elbow, call me a fool,
and advise me to keep out of ‘that mess’ as he calls it.
It is very trying.”

I felt great sympathy for the Princess. Nobody
knew better than I all the unpleasantness to which one
became exposed by siding with Grand Duchess Anas-
tasia. Besides, Princess Xenia had always been on the
best of terms with her namesake who was Anastasia’s
chief opponent — Grand Duchess Xenia; two or three
of the Grand Duchess’s sons happened to be at the time
in the United States and often visited Princess Xenia
in Oyster Bay. Except for her sister, Nina, and her
uncle, Christopher, they were the only relatives she had
in this country, and she was naturally loath to quarrel
with them. Having myself incurred the enmity of my
own uncle, Peter Botkin, I could imagine only too
clearly Xenia’s predicament.

But at the same time Grand Duchess Anastasia too
was Xenia’s cousin — the only living child of her
Emperor. To be sure, Xenia had not as yet seen Anas-
tasia, but she told me several times that she had no
doubt as to the Grand Dudiess’s identity. These as-

[ 143]

'VI

ARRIVAL IN THE UNITED STATES

P RINCESS Xenia kept her promise and invited
Grand Duchess Anastasia to come to Oyster Bay.
The Leuchtenbergs were delighted and, accord-
ing to them, the Grand Duchess herself was very
pleased. Through the united efforts of the American
Consul in Munich and my cousin, Sergius, a way was
found to grant Anastasia a visa, permitting her to visit
the United States for a minimum stay of six months.

The sudden zeal displayed by Cousin Sergius
amused me not a little. In all his previous negotia-
tions with me he had seemed afraid of doing anything
and dismissed all my plans and suggestions as impossi-
ble. But now that Princess Xenia had become inter-
ested in the matter, Sergius displayed quite astonishing
energy and resourcefulness. Luckily, my good cousin
did not suspect in the least, that actually he was still
corresponding with me, for Princess Xenia did no
more than affix her signature to the letters I wrote.

I was overjoyed at such a rapid materialization of
my dream. Soon nothing remained except for either
Princess Xenia herself — as she had originally planned
— or some other person of her choice to go to Germany
and bring the Grand Duchess over. But week after
week passed and nothing happened. Whenever I asked
Princess Xenia how slion she hoped to send for Anas-

[ 142 ]

ARRIVAL IN THE UNITED STATES
tasia she answered evasively that she was not yet quite
ready.

I noticed that her attitude towards me was no longer
as friendly as it had been at first. She also seemed
worried and one day said to me:

“You cannot imagine all the trouble I am having on
account of Anastasia. Nobody wants to help me. All
my relatives make fun of me. Uncle Christopher is
quite impossible. If he only notices that I am writing
a letter to somebody about Anastasia he begins to laugh,
dance around my chair, push my elbow, call me a fool,
and advise me to keep out of ‘that mess’ as he calls it.
It is very trying."

I felt great sympathy for the Princess. Nobody
knew better than I all the unpleasantness to which one
became exposed by siding with Grand Duchess Anas-
tasia. Besides, Princess Xenia had always been on the
best of terms with her namesake who was Anastasia’s
chief opponent — Grand Duchess Xenia; two or three
of the Grand Duchess’s sons happened to be at the time
in the United States and often visited Princess Xenia
in Oyster Bay. Except for her sister, Nina, and her
uncle, Christopher, they were the only relatives she had
in this country, and she was naturally loath to quarrel
with them. Having myself incurred the enmity of my
own unde, Peter Botkin, I could imagine only too
clearly Xenia’s predicament.

But at the same time Grand Duchess Anastasia too
was Xenia’s cousin — the only living child of her
Emperor. To be sure, Xenia had not as yet seen Anas-
tasia, but she told me several times that she had no
doubt as to the Grand Duchess’s identity. These as

[ H3]

ARRIVAL m THE UNITED STATES

serfions on Xenia’s part did not astonish me, convinced
as I was that most members of the Imperial Family
knew only too well who the so-called Mrs. Tschaikov-
sky actually was. And it seemed clear to me that once
Xenia was convinced of Anastasia’s identity, she was
as much obligated to help her as I was myself.

Xenia’s position was not an easy one, of course. She
needed a determination well*nigh heroic; but I felt
confident that it could be expected from her. I only
wished that I could be of some help to her in that strug-
gle against her own family. But she grew steadily
more reserved and aloof, so that all I could do was to
pray that she might be given the power necessary to
fulfill her heavy duty.

One day the Princess said to me; “I have told you
from the very start that I had no money of my own ; and
now I must tell you that I am also quite unable to get
any.” -

I was not a little shocked. "Do you mean,” I asked,
“that you no longer plan to bring Grand Duchess Anas-
tasia over to this country?”

“No,” Xenia answered. “I still want to bring her
over and, if she does come over, shall be happy to sup-
port her indefinitely. I have even given this promise
to the Immigration authorities in Washington. It is
simply that I have no money for her transportation, so
that unless you undertake to raise the money Anastasia's
ipumfi.^ cajxnnthe. accom^Ushed.”

I explained to the Princess tliat before she had ap-
proached me, I bad already c.Thausted all my possi-
bilities and found it impossible to raise a penny. I

[ 144]

ARRIVAL IN THE UNITED STATES

was willing to try again, but had little reason to hope
for success.

“Another trouble is," I added, “that I am already
being accused on all sides of having acknowledged
Anastasia merely in the hope of making money by
championing her case. If, I start again asking people
for money, they will become the more convinced that
these accusations against me are true. Frankly, I care
little what stupid people say about me, but for the pres-
ent I happen to be the only person in the world who
has acknowledged the Grand Duchess publicly.
Consequently, any suspicions in regard to my own dis-
interestedness and sineerity in the matter serve to make
everybody the more sceptical in regard to Anastasia's
identity. On the other hand, nobody could be insane
enough to suspect you — the wife of William Leeds — of
being motivated by a desire for financial profits. You,
therefore, are in a position to ask for money, without
arousing any further doubts about Anastasia’s claims."

“It may be so,” Princess Xenia agreed. “But the
fact remains that I do not know where to get any
money. If you think that my name will help, you may
tell all the people you approach, that it is I who need
the money. Tell them also to make out their cheques
to my name. Then nobody could accuse you of any
dishonest intentions.”

It seemed a weird idea for me — a penniless refugee
— to seek a loan for the very wealthy Mrs. Leeds. But
I was not in a position to refuse my co-operation in any
plan, no matter how fantastic. Were I to say, “I can-
not do it,” Princess Xenia would, no doubt, answer : “If

[145]

ARRIP'AL IN THE UNITED STATES

probably create such a scandal as to affect the results
of the forthcoming general elections. Dr. Lucke then
immediately dropped his suit

I felt that these were no mean victories, at ^hich all
friends of Grand Duchess Anastasia had every reason
to rejoice; and so, indeed, they all did — ^all, that is, ex-
cept Princess Xenia. Mrs. Derfelden informed me
that the Princess was extremely angry because of my
article in the Herald^Trtbune, accused me of having
broken my promise not to give further publicity to
Anastasia’s case, and threatened to withdraw her invi-
tation to the Grand Duchess. I requested to see Prin-
cess Xenia personally, and a few days later she asked
me to meet her at Mrs. Dcrfclden’s apartment in
Hempstead*

Much to my regret I found that Xenia was not only
angry, but unaccountably upset. She repeated all her
accusations against me, as Mrs. Derfelden had reported
them, as well as her threat to cancel her invitation to
the Grand Duchess. It dismayed me that my relations
with the Princess, who still seemed to me so charming
a person, were assuming such an inimical aspect But
it was to Grand Duchess Anastasia that my devotion
’belonged first and above alJ, and I frankly pointed the
fact out to the Princess.

"As for our agreement," I said, "it seems to me that
you — not I — have broken it It was in the summer that
you had promised to bring the Grand Duchess o\tT,
but now wc arc already in Kovember, I have agreed
to do nothing without your pcrmi*sion, for the sole rca*
son that you have promised to take complete charge of
'Anastasia’s affairs. Unfortunately, you have not done

[148]

ARRIVAL IN THE UNITED STATES

you cnnnot do it, I cannot bring Anastasia over " What
would then become of the Grand Duchess?

And so, with the courage of despair, I set out once
more on that most hateful of all ventures — walking
from the door of one wealthy man to another, begging
for money The results uerc just such as I had ex
pected They all refused — some with undisguised in
solence Nor did Mrs Leeds’ name prove of the
slightest help

“Just wait a moment,” one of the wealthy men I had
approached said to me “Do you mean to say that were
I Willing to put up the money for that Grand Duchess’s
journey, I should have to make the cheque out to Mrs
Leeds?”

“That 18 exactly what I mean,” I answered

“But I can’t understand it,” the man exclaimed
“Mrs Leeds is one of the wealthiest women in the
country Why should she accept a cheque from me?”

“That I don’t know, I am sure,” I said * Why not
take It up with Mrs Leeds directly?”

But the man refused to do even that He seemed to
think me completely crazy, nor could I e\actly blame
him

And the situation in Europe was again getting worse
According to all reports, the Grand Duke of Hessen
Darmstadt was girding himself for another attack on
Grand Duchess Anastasia Indeed, a formal complaint
was soon made against Mrs von Rathlef, to the effect

the past of Ihe now so famous Francisca About the
same time Dr Lucke, the editor who had published the
story about Francisca, brought a libel suit against the
[146]

mmVAL IN THE UNITED STATES

newspaper Tagliche RunJschaUj which had accused
him editorially of having accepted a bribe from the
Grand Duke of Hessen-Darmstadt.

The Lcuchtenbergs were growing panicky and ask-
ing me in every letter what was delaying Grand
Duchess Anastasia’s proposed journey to the United
States. I kept inventing all the excuses I could think
of, for I knew that it would be fatal to tell them that
Princess Xenia claimed to have no money for Anas-
tasia’s transportation. Other friends of Anastasia
wrote alarming letters to me, insisting that cither the
Grand Duchess had to be taken out of Germany imme-
diately, or else some measures taken to scare off the
Grand Duke of Hessen-Dormstadt.

I went to the foreign editor of the New York Herald-
Tribune and, having explained the situation, asked him
whether he would agree to publish an article contain-
ing the story of Hessen-Darmstadt’s war-time trip to
Russia, and his consequent fear of Anastasia as the only
living witness of that trip. Rather to my astonish-
ment the editor agreed and the article was duly pub-
lished.

Its effect fulfilled my best expectations. , While ac-
cepted placidly enough in this country, it raised an-'
other storm in Europe, and the Grand Duke of Hessen-
Darmstadt hastened to withdraw from the battlefield
About the same time Mrs. von Rathlef was acquitted
in court of all the accusations made against her. Finallv
when Dr. Lucke’s libel suit came up for trial, the judne
warned him that he would have to summon the Gra d
Duke of Hessen-Darmstadt as one of the witnesses "d
that the revelations likely to be made at the trial w’ouM

t'47]

A photographic study of

AT VARIOUS AGES BEGINNING

THE GRAND DUCHESS ANASTASIA
WITH THE YEAR OF HER BIRTH

arrival in the united states

so Now you threaten to withdraw your invitation to

•Anastasia. But what is the good

when none of us has the money to pay for her transpor-

*^^‘Tpromised to bring her over and I will bring her
over, but only if you will not publish another word

about her,” Xenia said. *• n j ^:tu

“I am afraid that I can no longer be satisfied with

sueh abstract promises.” I °lJZ

Highness expect to bring the Grand Duchess over to

* Xenia Aought for a while, then said: “In January.”

"Why not in December?” I asked.

“I cannot do it in December,” she answered, almost
tearfully,' “but I promise to do it m January. ^ •

“But how about the pioney for Anastasia s trip? I'
asked. ■ “I have not succeeded in raising a cent, you

“I shall take care of that,” Xenia answered, some-
what to my surprise, without offering any further ex-
planation how her financial difficulties had been solved

so suddenly. ' . ., ...

“■Very well,” I said. "I shall consider our original
agreement as once more binding, but only till January.
H the Grand Duchess is not here in January I shall be
forced to conclude that you have withdrawn from the
case and start handling matters in my own Way.

The Princess accepted my terms and we parted
friendlier than we had met, yet coldly enough. Xenia’s
behaviour became steadily more puzzling to me. After
all nobody could force her to take any part in the case
of Grand Duchess Anastasia, but if she wanted to help

[149]

ARRIVAL IN THE UNITED STATES

the Grind Duchess why then nl] these delays, why her
constantly growing hostility towards me? Had she
been a different kind of person, I should have begun
to suspect her of having offered her help for the sole
purpose of keeping me inactive, thus affording Anas
tasia’s enemies complete freedom of action But I
could not picture so charming and lovable a person as
Xenia in such a dubious role
I assumed, therefore, that she was merely suffering
from the proverbial Romanov \acilIation and inde
cision In all probability, she wanted to help Anas
tasia, but at the same time did not want to quarrel ivith
her other relatives Probably she was angry with me
because I i\a3 pressing her for an immediate decision
She also seemed shocked at my temerity in making
public accusations against members of Royalty
That part of the Royal psychology I knew only too
well Among themselves members of Royalty did not
hesitate to accuse one another of the worst possible
crimes But no commoner had, in their conviction, the
right to show any disrespect to any of them, including
their worst enemies In what violent terms, for in
stance, had William II denounced his own uncle, Ed
ward VII, to the Russian Emperor Of what crimes
had he not accused Edward and what names had he not
called him, “the very Satan,” being but one of them
Yet, when one of his own friends, a commoner, re
ferred to that “very Satan” as “King Edward,” Em
peror William frowned and said “You probably mean
His Majesty King Edward?”

Likewise Princess Xenia’s frankness in telling me of
some of the misdeeds of her Royal relatives was at

1 150 J

AKRIVAL IN THE UNITED STATES

times almost astonishing. But for me — a commoner —
to criticise those same relatives of hers in the press was
a totally different matter.

It was this Royal point of view, wjiich I had to take
into consideration, if only for the reason that in all
probability Grand Duchess Anastasia herself shared
it with all her relatives. But it was quite evident that
some of the Royal personages intended to take full ad-
vantage of their traditional immunity from publicity in
their persecution of Anastasia. And to convince tliem
that they no longer possessed such immunity remained
for the present my only real weapon with which I could
defend the Grand Duchess.

Be that as it may, nothing did I want more than to
serve as Xenia’s support and loyal assistant, rather than
be an added source of worry and unpleasantnesses, of
which she, no doubt, had enough. And I sympathised
with her the more, because it was, after all, through her
desire to help Anastasia that she was exposing herself
to all those troubles. But I certainly could not permit
my sympathy for Xenia to leave Anastasia at the mercy
of her enemies.

My article in the Herald-Tribnne had, however, yet
another — and this time unexpectedly pleasant — conse-
quence. One evening I was surprised by a telephone
call from the famous Russian composer and pianist
Sergei Vassilievich Rachmaninoff. *

I had never known Mr. Rachmaninoff personally
but since my arrival in New York had heard a great
deal about him. One of the very few Russians whom
the Revolution had deprived neither of his position
nor his wealth, he had become a sort of legendary fig.

[151]

ARRIVAL IN THE UNITED STATES

ure But while Americans are inclined to reward suc-
cess With exaggerated, and often quite undeserved,
respect, Russians have, on the contrary, the tendency of
envying, and in consequence disliking, successful men

Also, I had never heard any Russian say a real kind
word about Rachmaninoff He was said to be fabu
lously rich and earning from three to four hundred
thousand dollars in a single season, yet refusing to help
any of his unfortunate compatriots I had even been
told that Mr Rachmaninoff was a rabid socialist and
took delight in insulting the now impoverished aristo
crats and monarchists

I suspected that, like most Russian stones, these de
nunciations of Rachmaninoff were exaggerated, but
the assertion that he was a socialist was quite credible
Indeed, one of his best friends, the equally famous
Chahapme, was an avowed Bolshevik; and, in general,
the vast majority of Russian artists, writers, and musi-
cians had always been noted for their re\olutionary
tendencies

I was therefore greatly surprised by Mr Rachman-
inoff’s telephone call, and my surprise increased when
he told me that he had been deeply stirred by my arti-
cle in the Herald-Tribune, and wondered whether I
could come to his apartment for dinner

Needless to say, I accepted the invitation, and it was
Mr Rachmaninoff himself who opened the door for
me A strange sensation it was to ha'v e the door opened
by the cover of the Prelude C sharp minor, suddenly
come to- life

A few minutes’ conversation sufficed to convince me
that all the stones about Mr Rachmaninoff were pure

1 152]

ARRIVAL IN THE UNITED STATES

fabrications. He proved a kindly, benevolent man,
very conservative in his political views, and altogether
much more reminiscent of an old-time Russian bureau-
crat than of the proverbial wild-eyed musical genius.

“Why have you never approached me on the case of
Mrs. Tschaikovsky?" he asked me in a gently reproach-
ful manner. “I shall be very frank with you and tell
you right now, that I am by no means convineed that
she is actually Grand Duchess Anastasia. Hers seems
to be one of those stories whieh are too fantastic to be
believed, yet require even more fantastic explanations
to be disbelieved. But I am convinced that she is no
deliberate impostor, and I am further convinced that
you are quite sincere in your belief in her. 1 want to
be of help.”

“Whosoever she is,” Mrs. Rachmaninoff added,
“there can be little doubt that she is the innocent vic-
tim of some dreadful intrigue, and has suffered more
than it seems possible for any human being to suffer.
We have to help her."

I then began to regret that I had not approaehed the
Rachmaninoffs from the very beginning, but as I ex-
plained to them presently, I had had not the slightest
reason for doing so.

We spent the whole evening discussing the Grand
Duchess’s experiences and present circumstances, and
finally Mr. Rachmaninoff said :

“I am willing to pay for Anastasia’s trip to this
country, right now. But as long as Xenia promises
definitely to bring her over in J anuary I think it will
be better to wait until then. Aside from anything else
if Mrs. Tschaikovsky is indeed Anastasia, it will be

[ t53]

ARRIVAL IN TUB UNITED STATES

much better for her to be brought to this country by
her own cousin. One thing I can do is to get in touch
with Xenia and offer her my help. That may stir her
up.”

And so he did; and indeed Xenia’s attitude seemed
to have changed once more and she started with the
preparations for Anastasia’s journey in good earnest.
Finally, she informed me that everything was ready
and she was about to dispatch a trusted nurse, Miss
Agnes Gallacher, to Germany.

"The only thing which worries me,” she observed,
“is that Anastasia is said to speak no language except
German, and Miss Gallacher does not know a word
of any language except English, which she speaks with
a strong Scotch accent. How on earth are the two
going to understand each other?”

"You forget,” I said, "that Grand Duchess Anastasia
always spoke fluent English.”

"But she doesn't any more,” Xenia retorted.

"True,” I agreed. “But it is my conviction that her
refusal to speak English, like her refusal to speak Rus-
sian, is but some kind of neurosis. I am positive that
she has not forgotten either English or Russian; and
here is an excellent opportunity to test that conviction
of mine. I venture to predict that, if left alone with a
person who knows no other language than English,
Anastasia will immediately begin to speak English
herself.”

“I am not so sure of that,” Xenia sighed. “But if
you want to take the responsibility, I am going to send
Miss Gallacher for her.”

"By all means, send Miss Gallacher,” I answered.

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Even so, with further unforeseen delays, it was not
in January but in early February that Grand Duehess
Anastasia finally arrived in the United States. That,
however, I did not mind. What I did mind was that
shortly before Anastasia’s expected arrival Mrs. Der-
felden informed me that Xenia was leaving for the
West” Indies and would not return in time to meet
Anastasia.

“But why has she got to leave now?” I enquired.

“She needs a rest,” Mrs. Derfelden said cryptically.
"A funny time for her to find herself suddenly in
need of rest,” I observed. “But who is going to meet the
Grand Duehess and where is she going to stay until
Xenia’s return?”

“Xenia wants you to meet Anastasia and will give
you a sworn affidavit, stating that you are empowered
to act as her representative in all the affairs concerning
Grand Duehess Anastasia,” Mrs. Derfelden said. “You
should have no trouble, because Xenia has arranged
everything with the Immigration authorities. But she
told me to warn you again that if you permit a single
word about Anastasia’s arrival to get into the news-
papers she will withdraw from the case. Othertvise,
she will do as she has promised, and on her next trip
to Europe she will take Anastasia to the Empress Dow-
ager. And until Xenia’s return, Anastasia will stay'
in the city with Miss Annie B. J ennings.”

I had never met Miss Jennings, but I knew that she
was a wealthy spinster, whose brother’s estate in Cold
Spring Harbor adjoined the Leeds’ place ih’Oyster
Bay. Moreover, Mrs. Derfelden’s daughter, Marie

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was married to Miss Jennings’ nephew, Hugh D.
Auchincloss.

It was again one of those bewildering situations,
which only members of Royalty were capable of creat-
ing. Xenia’s sudden departure for the West Indies
bore every appearance of a flight. It placed me in the
most embarrassing position, after having assured Grand
Duchess Anastasia that she was coming to this country
as a guest of her cousin, to take her upon her arrival
to the house of a complete stranger. Having heard so
much about Anastasia’s suspiciousness, and experienced
some of it myself, I was not a little worried how she
would react to such a situation.

Once more, with any other person than Xenia, I
should hare suspected treason. But Xenia, I was sure,
was not capable of treason. Moreover, she could not
have wanted to betray me and at the same time make
me her official representative. That, by the way, was
another paradoxical situation. The unfriendly atti-
tude which Mrs. Derfclden had assumed towards me
of late seemed to indicate that Xenia herself no longer
trusted me. Indeed, I had heard from many sides that
Mrs, Derfelden was now accusing me of having simply
staged a grand publicity stunt And if such was her
opinion, in all probability shared by Xenia, what a
peculiar notion it was to make me Xenia’s represen-
tative.

But after all, the main thing was that in a few days
Grajid Duchess Asasiesh would reach the salcty of the
hospitable American shore, and my own problem now
was not to try to understand the mental processes of
either Xenia or Mrs. Derfclden, but make certain that

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no trouble would arise at the time of Anastasia’s arri-
val. The thing I dreaded most was some trouble with
the Immigration authorities. With her phobia in re-
gard to all questioning, I could not quite imagine
Grand Duchess Anastasia standing in a crowd of pas-
sengers and answering questions fired at her by Immi-
gration Inspectors.

It was also important to take the Grand Duchess off
the boat as quickly as possible, before newspaper re-
porters would have the time to discover her.

Luckily, several friends came to my aid. Mrs. Hetty
Richard promised to come with her car and drive
Anastasia from the pier to Miss Jennings’ house. Mr.
Cadwallader W. Kelsey, or Carl, as his friends called
him for short, volunteered to take care of Anastasia’s
luggage. And Mr. Rachmaninoff asked his manager,
Mr. Foley, to go with me on board the Rerengaria, on
which the Grand Duchess was a passenger, and help
me in case of any difficulties with the Immigration
authorities.

The Berengaria was scheduled to arrive on February
7. On February 6, armed with Xenia’s affidavit, I went
to the city to obtain a permit to go out to the ship on
the Government cutter. Contrary, however, to Mrs.
Derfelden’s assurances, I discovered that nobody knew
anything at aii airont Anastasiak arrival — nobody, that
is, except the only people whom Xenia did not want to
know about it — the newspaper reporters. Indeed it
was only through the help of a representative of the
Ne'W York Times, that I obtained at last the permit to
board the Government cutter. But on the same eve-
ning every newspaper in New York carried a long

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'Story about the arrival of the “mysterious Mrs. Tschai-
kovsky.”

“Three cheers for Xenia,** I reflected.

On February 7, I went at the appointed hour on
board the cutter, but found on it only two passengers,
Mr. Foley and Mrs. Fritz Kreisler, chatting amiably.

“The fog is so thick that the cutter must wait for it
to lift,** Mr. Foley explained.

“More of Anastasia’s good luck,” I observed.

It was. We waited fill 7 o’clock in the evening and
were finally told to come on the following morning. I
could well imagine how nervous the poor Grand
Duchess was probably getting on the fog-bound Beren-
garia. From what the Leuchtenbergs had told me
about her, she was quite .capable of deciding, that it
was because of her presence on board that the Beren-
garia was not allowed to approach the pier.

On the following morning, the fog remained Just as
thick, but the Government cutter decided to proceed.
Now it had many passengers — some thirty-odd re-
porters among them. The petty officer in charge of the
boat called Mr. Foley and me into his cabin, but the
newspaper reporters discovered us quickly and one of
them walked right in and seized me by the shoulder.
Mr. Foley was about to intervene but I recognized in
the reporter my good acquaintance, Dudley Nichols of
theN^w York World,

“For goodness’s sake, don’t ask me anything,” I
begged Nichols. “I have taken the vow of silence and
won’t talk. As for Grand Duchess Anastasia herself,
she is sick and afraid of people. Can’t you be kind for
once, and let her leave the ship without bothering her?”

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"I could, perhaps,” Nichols said. “But look at that
crowd," pointing to the other reporters. “You won’t
be able to escape theml”

“Tell them that they will be only wasting their time,”

I said to Nichols. “There will be no interview, no
matter what they do.”

Nichols shook his head doubtfully and went back to
join his colleagues. The cutter proceeded at a snail’s
pace, until the hulk of the Berengaria suddenly ap-
peared out of the milky fog, right in front of us.

Somehow Foley and I managed to get on the rope
ladder together with the Immigration Inspectors and
ahead of the reporters. Having scrambled on board,
we ran towards Anastasia’s suite and reached it just in
time. No sooner did we lock the door behind us than
we heard all the thirty-odd reporters assemble outside.

It was a rather precipitate entry on our part and,
attracted by the noise. Grand Duchess Anastasia came
out of her bedroom, a frightened expression on her
face. But the moment she saw me, she smiled cheer-
fully and gave me her hand to kiss.

I hardly dared to believe my eyes. Here she was at
last — ^“the Little One” — looking much better than she
had in Seeon, wearing a new and quite becoming dress,
and obviously very pleased to see me.

“I must ask Your Imperial Highness’ forgiveness for
dashing into the room like this,” I apologised. “But
we were pursued by newspaper reporters.”

“Newspaper reporters? How terrible,” the Grand
Duchess said. “But you will not let them in?”

“No, we will not let them in,” I assured her, “but it

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will be rather a problem to get Your Imperial High-
ness off the boat. "We shall, however, try our best.”

I then introduced Mr. Foley, and much to my de-
light the Grand Duchess greeted him in English. Soon
we were joined by Miss Agnes Gallachcr, whom I now
saw for the first time. She proved a truly delightful
Scotchwoman, and at the first opportunity I took her
aside to ask when Anastasia had begun to speak Eng-
lish.

“The moment I was introduced to her,” Miss Gal-
lachcr said. “Who started that story that she can’t
speak English? She speaks it so well — it is obvious she
has known it since childhood. And I also want to tell
you that anybody who suspects her of being an impostor
must be crazy. Believe me, I know people. Have
seen plenty of tliem. She is every inch a lady and a
princess. But also such a child. She cannot conceal
a single one of her thoughts, let alone play the role of
another. In those few days I came to love her, as I
have seldom loved anyone.”

In the meantime, our friends the thirty-odd report-
ers were getting noisier and noisier, and I went out in
the hope of being able to calm them. •'But ray appear-
ance started a veritable pandemonium. I was sur-
rounded on all sides and showered with questions and
demands to permit “Mrs. Tschaikovsky” to be inter-
viewed.

“I am sorry,” I said, trying to make myself heard
above the din. “But there will be no interview. The
Grand Duchess is very tired, and I hope that you will
be decent enough to leave her alone.”

I was answered with loud exclamations of protest.

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The representatives of the tabloid press were particu-
larly noisy and offensive.

“You have a duty towards our readers 1“ one of them
yelled. “You can’t refuse an interviewl"

“What’s all this secrecy?” a fat little Jew shouted,
gesticulating wildly. “She must be an impostor, if you
are afraid to show her to usi”

“Sorry,” I repeated. “But I cannot permit you to
see the Grand Duchess, nor say anything myself. I
know how you feel about it, but I am here only as the
representative of Princess Xenia and I am not allowed
to talk.”

But the protests and demands grew only louder, and,
seeing that all reasoning was useless, I returned to
Anastasia’s suite to discuss with Mr. Foley the question
that worried me most at the moment, how we could
manage the questioning of the Grand Duchess by the
Immigration Inspectors.

“I shall see what I can do,” Mr. Foley said. “By
the way, do not worry about her admission. Mr.
Rachmaninoff has authorized me to deposit whatever
bond may be required, should any trouble arise.”

Mr. Foley disappeared, while I began to prepare
the Grand Duchess as best I could for the unavoidable
questioning. As I had feared, Anastasia became quite
nervous, thus increasing my apprehensions further. I
was still trying to calm her, when Mr. Foley reap-
peared with an Immigration Inspector. The latter
took Anastasia’s papers and proceeded to question her
somewhat as follows:

“Your name is Mrs. Anastasia Tschaikovsky? Yes
it is. You came to this country as a tourist, for a six

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months* stay? Yes, you did. Your papers are in or-
der? So they are. You arc a guest of Mrs. William
B. Leeds of Oyster Bay? That’s right. Admitted!”

And, with the lastword, he affixed his stamp to Anas-
tasia’s certificate, while the Grand Duchess, who her-
self had not uttered a word, kept looking at him with a
puzzled smile.

At that moment a fat doctor appeared, but before
he had the time to open his mouth the Inspector pushed
him gently out of the room.

‘Tt’s all right, Doctor,” I heard him say in the cor-
ridor. '‘Her health is perfect. I have already admit-
ted her."

"What was all this?" the Grand Duchess asked in
the tone of a curious child, leaning her head to one side.

"It was the questioning I have been warning Your
Imperial Highness about,” I laughed.

"But I did not say a word,” she protested, puzzled.

“And you will not have to,” I said.

"Oh, that was very nice,” she said with a sigh of re-
lief.

It was nice! I could have kissed that wonderful
Inspector on both cheeks.

“What sort of miracle have you performed?” I asked
Mr. Foley, for I was quite as bewildered as the Grand
Duchess.

“I’ve done exactly nothing,” Mr. Foley answered
with a smile as happy as my own. “You don’t imagine
that one could bribe those men? I simpfy toM Aim
who the lady was. He said that he had read about her
and deeply sympathised with her. The only miracle
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• ARRIVAL IN THE UNITED STATES

involved is that there are such extremely decent people
in this -world.”

“Admitted! Yes, 'the Little One* was admitted,*’ I
repeated to myself again and again. What a relief it
was!

All that remained now was to take her ashore. But
here it was that a disappointment awaited us. Word
came from the Captain that the fog was so dense, that
the Berengaria would not attempt to approach the pier
for quite some time, probably not for another twenty-
four hours.

It proved a rather mad day for Mr. Foley and my-
self, The reporters did not relax their vigilance, and
we could not leave Anastasia’s suite without being im-
mediately surrounded by them. They stood around us
while we ate our luncheon, they walked after us wher-
ever we went, they hung around Anastasia’s door, hop-
ing to slip through unobserved, so that eventually we
had to establish a watch, which Miss Gallacher, Mr.
Foley, and I kept in turn.

In the evening several photographers placed them-
selves at the door of the ladies’ bathroom and pro-
ceeded to photograph every woman who entered or left
it. Inasmuch as many of them were in different stages
of uodresSf the Captain received several complaints, bnt
even that did not help,

“What are you doing all this nonsense for?” I asked
one of the photographers. “Why are you taking the
photograph of every woman going to the bathroom?”

“Because sooner or later your Grand Duchess will
have to go to the bathroom also,” he explained, “And

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by photographing every lady we are certain to get a
picture of her.”

“Very clever ” I laughed. “Except that the Grand
Duchess happens to have a private bathroom.”

He looked at me, stupefied and said: “Gosh I We
haven’t thought of thatl”

After a while Dudley Nichols offered me to conclude
a gentlemen’s agreement. He would go home and take
most of the reporters away with him, provided I prom-
ise to give no interview to those who would choose to
remain. I promised, of course, and all reporters, ex-
cept a few tabloidians actually left, much to my relief.

With the necessity of constantly watching the report-
ers, I had not been able to see much of the Grand
Duchess herself, that day. Besides, the excitement of
the morning had tired her a great deal. Also, as I had
feared, she was quite puzzled and not at all pleased by
the absence of Xenia and the news that she would have
to stay at first in the house of some American woman
she had never heard about. She spent, therefore, the
greater part of the day resting in her bedroom.

But I did have several long discussions with Miss
Gallacher, and was delighted to discover that she had
fallen completely under Anastasia’s spell. She also
impressed me as a highly competent and a kindly and
jovial woman. Certainly Princess Xenia could not
have chosen a better companion for Anastasia, and I
felt that Miss Gallachcr’s presence — for she was to re-
main with Anastasia until Xenia’s return — would help
(he Grand Duchess a great deal in adjusting herself to
her new surroundings.

When night came, the Captain of the ship very oblig*
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ingly placed two staterooms at Mr. Foley’s and my dis-
posal, but even so we could not sleep much. Then
again, we had no razors with us, so that in the morning
we both looked none too respectable — our eyes red from
lack of sleep and our faces unshaved.

But the weather had changed and the sun shone
brightly. Shortly after breakfast the Berengaria at last
reached the pier, and the time came to take the Grand
Duchess off the boat. All our arguments with report-
ers and photographers who had returned in the morn-
ing proved of no avail. I tried my best to prepare
Anastasia for the ordeal. Miss Gallacher placed her-
self at the head of our small procession, while Mr.
Foley and I flanked the Grand Duchess on both sides.
But no sooner did we walk out into the corridor than
one of the tabloid reporters sneaked up from behind
and tried to seize Anastasia by the shoulder.

“Hey, listenl” he shouted at her. “Aren’t you going
to say anything to us? Are you a Grand Duchess or
an impostor?”

I saw how the poor Anastasia began to tremble. Mr.
Foley, who so far had displayed amazing patience, lost
his temper, and, seizing the reporter by the collar,
sent him flying along the corridor. Another reporter
started shouting at Foley that he would have him ar-
rested for assault and battery.

“I’m a witness! I’m a witness!” he kept screaming,
but at the same time remaining wisely at a considerable
distance from Foley.

Thp moment we walked out on deck we were sur-
rounded by photographers, who, in spite of the broad
daylight, began to explode their flashlights right into

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our faces. I shuddered to think what dreadful mem-
ories that shooting evoked in the Grand Duchess.
Probably those men did not realise the inexcusable
cruelty they were committing. Even so, I would have
gladly tossed them all overboard.

Down on the pier we hastened towards the freight
elevator, at the foot of which Mrs. Richard had placed
her car. The ruse worked and a few minutes later we
had safely lost ourselves in the traffic. But the dam-
age had already been done. Poor Little Onel She
continued to tremble from head to foot and stare in
the distance with glassy, moist eyes, muttering under
her breath:

“How terrible . , , how terrible . .

We reached Miss Jennings* house on Park Avenue
in the upper thirties, without further misadventures,
and were at once taken to the upper floor, where two
rooms had been prepared for the Grand Duchess and
Miss Gallacher. I helped Anastasia to take off her
coat, but my efforts to calm her proved vain. She
remained standing in the middle of the room, still
trembling, still muttering; “How terrible . . . how
terrible . .

A moment later appeared Mrs. Derfelden. So hostile
had her attitude towards me become that I was pre-
pared for the worst. And, indeed, it was with a rather
cynical smile that she entered the room. But never
had I seen anybody’s facial expression change so
swiftly as Mrs. Derfelden’s did the moment she saw
Grand Duchess Anastasia. Her eyes filled with tears,
her face turned ashen grey. She hesitated for a mo-
ment — the very picture of a^person suddenly confronted
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with an apparition from the Beyond. Then she ran
towards Anastasia, seized both her hands and began to
cover them with kisses, repeating, or rather sobbing:^
‘'Your Imperial Highness . . . Your Imperial
Highness ...”

For that one moment I forgave her all the unpleas-
antness she had caused me.

Shortly afterwards appeared Miss Jennings, who
was an elderly lady, typical of her kind. The intro-
ductions over, I suggested that the Grand Duchess be
allowed complete rest, and in this Miss Gallacher
supported me firmly. I obtained Anastasia’s permis-
sion to call on her the day after ne.xt, then took leave
of her, and went to thank Mr. Foley and Mr. Kelsey
for their invaluable help,

Mr, Kelsey, who invited me to luncheon, told me the
story — at once comical and touching — of his efforts to
smuggle in some little plant, which Anastasia had
brought with her from Europe. It was just an ordinary
little flower, but Anastasia was much attached to it and,
besides, was anxious to preserve the soil of Europe
which filled the flower pot There was some quaran-
tine against European plants and to get that flower off
the boat proved almost more difficult than the Grand
Duchess herself. But the good Carl Kelsey had finally
succeeded in his efforts, and much to his satisfaction
Anastasia’s plant with its precious European soil was
now right in her room.

I felt as if I had returned to New York after a long
journey, and hastened to buy several newspapers.
Every one of them carried a front page story about the
Grand Duchess’ arrival, ^hc accounts ranged from

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profound sympathy to vulgar mockery. For some rea-
^son it was poor Mr. Foley — “the mysterious Foley”
as they all called him — on whom the newspaper report-
ers vented their anger at their failure to obtain an
interview with the Grand Duchess. I was treated with
surprising leniency, and the Herald-Tribune had even
printed a touching editorial on the beauty of the loyalty
displayed by Anastasia’s friends on the day of her
arrival.

But the newspapers contained also two important
communications from Europe. One was that Grand
Duke Andrew had met “Mrs. Tschaikovsky” in Paris
and formally acknowledged her as Grand Duchess
Anastasia. I thanked him heartily in my thoughts and
only regretted that I could not send him at once $4,000
that was so urgently needed.

But the other communication was so bewildering,
that I had to read it over several times to make sure
that I was not imagining things. It was a cable from
Grand Duke Alexander, informing the Nevj York
Times that the whole case of “Mrs. Tschaikovsky” was
a conspiracy, organised by me in an effort to gain con-
trol of the fortune which his wife, Grand Duchess
Xenia, was trying to inherit in Englandl

So far both Grand Duchesses, Xenia and Olga, had
stubbornly denied the very existence of such a fortune.
More than that, Grand Duchess Xenia had stated re-
peatedly that, even had such a fortune existed, she
would never attempt to obtain it because she could do
so only through litigation, and she considered all littga*
tion as entirely beneath the dignity of a Grand Duchess.

And now Xenia’s own husband was officially an-
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nouncing to the world that she was trying to inherit a
fortune in England I Better still, he virtually admitted
that the fortune should properly belong to Grand
Duchess Anastasia, once my attempts to prove that Mrs.
Tschaikovsky was Anastasia threatened to make it im-
possible for Xenia to inherit it
Tired and upset as I was, I nevertheless could not
help bursting out into laughter.

“Good old Grand Duke Alexander,” I said to Carl
Kelsey. “This certainly is letting the cat out of the
bagl"

[169]

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IN HIDING FROM REPORTERS

T he public interest aroused by the arrival of
Grand Duchess Anastasia was extraordinary.
As I think of it now, then was the time to
dciiver the major battle to the enemies of the Grand
Duchess and win; win— I am inclined to think— an
easy victory.

The financial offers alone were astonishing. I per*
sonally was swamped with requests for articles about
the Grand Duchess, the payments offered reaching as
high a figure as $30,000 for a single series. Thus I had
every opportunity not only to create a public opinion
favourable to Anastasia, but also to accumulate ample
funds for both her personal maintenance and the
financing of the necessary litigations.

But I failed to avail myself of that extremely favour-
able situation and in consequence cannot escape the
blame for the fact that the Grand Duchess has not
been reinstated in her rights to this day. By way, not
of justification, but explanation I must say, however,
that at the time a number of factors made it virtually
impossible for me to perceive the right course.

First and above all, there was the attitude of Grand
Duchess Anastasia herself. In those days she still
hoped that her relatives would eventually come to
their senses and acknowledge her of their own free
will. I had not as yet discussed the matter with her
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IN HIDING PROM REPORTERS

personally, but I knew from Mrs. von Rathlef, the
Leucbtenbergs and others, that Anastasia thought of
her recognition in terms of her return into the fold of
her own family.

Continually she complained of being forced to live
among strangers. Again and again, especially when
ill and delirious, she spoke of her relatives, pleaded to
be taken to her grandmother, called for her aunts,
begged that her German uncle — that same wretched
Grand Duke of Hessen-Darmstadt who was so ruth-
lessly persecuting her — be induced to come to her. By
contrast, considerations such as the attitude towards
her of the public in general, financial security, per-
sonal safety, hardly existed for her at all.

In short, it was the affection and companionship of
her own kin that she craved; and at the time I thought
that a victory in a court of law could not be counted
upon to give her those. Later I had changed my mind
even on that subject. Having learned the full extent
of the greed, the petty snobbishness and respect for
empty titles predominant in Royal circles, I came to
believe that, legally acknowledged as a Grand Duchess
and given her fortune, Anastasia would instantly be-
come a cherished and much respected member of
Royalty. But in those days I feared that a legal vic-
tory alone would prove rather hollow, by antagonizing
Anastasia’s relatives to such an extent as to make her
return into the ranks of her family forever impossible.

In that latter point of view I was more than upheld
by Mrs. Derfelden who, in her turn, continued to act
merely as the mouthpiece of Princess Xenia.

Never would the sundry Royal families accept a

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IN HIDING FROM REPORTERS

verdict of a court of law rendered against their wishes,
she assured me. Yes, through the courts Anastasia
could, no doubt, receive the passport of a Russian
Grand Duchess and gain possession of her inheritance,
but not that personal recognition by her relatives which
she wanted above everything else.

And such recognition could be obtained — and Prin-
cess Xenia had promised to obtain it — ^by the simple
method of taking the Grand Duchess into the presence
of her grandmother, the Empress Dowager. Thus,
there was no need of thinking of any litigations and
hence of attempting to either earn or raise the money
for Anastasia’s legal expenses. As for her personal
expenses, had not Xenia promised to support her for
life, if necessary? And naturally the moment Anas-
tasia was acknowledged by the Empress Dowagcfl’She
would be automatically reinstated in all her rights and
become more than independent financially, w-"

Under the circumstances what right did f have to
endanger 'Anastasia’s recognition by giving her case
further publicity? Not only would that publicity
alienate Princess Xenia and, according to her, all the
other members of Royalty, but it would also deprive
my own testimony in regard to Anastasia’s identity of
all value. For the present even Mrs. Derfelden was
forced to admit that I could no longer be accused of
any ulterior motive in my championship of Anastasia’s
cause. But were I to accept the money — enormous
money for a penniless man — offered me for articles on
Anastasia, I should only convince everybody that all
the accusations against me were correct and, in conse-

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IN HIDING FROM REPORTERS

quence, that my recognition of Anastasia was not neces-
sarily based on any real conviction.

Thus I allowed myself to be completely duped ; and
in later years my only, if somewhat feeble, consolation
remained the fact that it was precisely my determina-
tion to stop at no sacrifice in my struggle for the Grand
Duchess’s complete rehabilitation which led me into
the error. It was unfortunate for 'Anastasia that the
policy I ought to have pursued happened to be also
the most advantageous one to me personally; and I had
been trained since earliest childhood to beware espe-
cially of that form of self-deception which leads one
to choose, as the best, such course of action which is
likely to result in some personal advantage.

Be that as it may, I not only rejected all the offers
for .publishing a complete account of Grand Duchess
Anastasia’s case, but for days had to play a rather
nerve-racking game of hide and seek with the various
representatives of the press. Their persistence was
truly astonishing. They camped around my house for
several days, knocking at my door at regular intervals
till late in the night. They continually called me up
on the telephone. They even approached my wife
telling her of all the money I could make and advising
her to demand of me that I avail myself of such an
opportunity. For a long time thereafter my children
played “Reporters” instead of Indians.

It also happened that a few reporters did catch sight
of Mrs. Richard’s automobile, at the moment when we
were driving away from the pier, and took down the
license number. At first they made a mistake and
traced the number to some Jewish resident of the

[173]

IN HIDING FROM REPORTERS

Bronx. One newspaper contained an extremely funny
account of the assault by reporters on the house of that
poor Jew and his bewildered protestations that never in
his life had he dealt in any way with Russian Grand
Duchesses.

But later the error was duly discovered and the re-
porters descended in force on the Richard’s place in
Hewlett. One of the newspaper men went so fat as to
disguise himself as a police lieutenant and appear at
the Richard’s door with a faked warrant for the search
of their house. Mr. Richard, who on the day of Ana-
stasia’s arrival happened to be in Boston, was not a
little bewildered when on his way back to New York
he learned from newspapers of the strange doings at
his house in Hewlett. So worried was he that he did
not go home but sought the sanctuary of the Harvard
Club.

Naturally, the reporters also kept close watch on the
Leeds’ estate in Oyster Bay, and some of them had
apparently begun to “see things,” for one newspaper
carried an account about a special guard of Russian
monarchists blocking all approaches to the place. It
even printed a drawing showing a fancy gate, which
had never existed on the Leeds’ estate, surrounded by
those strange people who 'are traditionally meant to
represent Russians in American illustrations, wearing
peculiar caps and carrying rifles with long bayonets.

One place the reporters never thought of approach-
ing wss Miss Jcaniirgs^ hifvsaoa Park Ave/tue. It task
all sorts of stratagems on my part to slip out of my
house unobserved, so as not to be followed to Ana-
stasia’s retreat. After a while the situation became

[ 174]

IN HIDING FROM REPORTERS

really quite amusing and luckily the Grand Duchess
herself began to view it as such.

On my first visit to her I saw with relief that Ana-
stasia had quite recovered from the shock of her first
encounter with the American press. She looked again
quite cheerful and told me that she liked both Miss
Jennings and her house.

"It is a comfortable house and there are many nice
things here,” she said, “although there are also a lot of
things which are lacking in good taste.”

The Grand Duchess was quite right. Miss Jennings’
house was a perfect replica of the habitats of rich Mos-
cow merchants who used to buy indiscriminately ob-
jects of real value and others almost worthless, eager
above all to fill their rooms with an astonishing quan-
tity of things, thus impressing visitors with their
wealth.

“And you know, I have already made a very funny
discovery,” Anastasia said, her blue eyes lighting with
mischief.

“What discovery?” I wondered. <*

“Miss Jennings has quite a few paintings and seems
very proud of them,” the Grand Duchess said. “She
showed them all to me, but later I discovered by myself
a painting which she had not shown or even mentioned,
hanging in a dark corridor above a big wardrobe. And
you know what painting it is? Mona Lisal”

“Mona Lisa?” I repeated, astonished. “A copy of
Mona Lisa, you mean?”

“Ah, that is just it,” Anastasia began to laugh. "It is
such an excellent copy that at first glance I was almost
deceived by it. But I brought a chair and climbed on

[175]

IN HIDING FROM REPORTERS

it and, having e:famined the painting very carefully,
discovered that it was undoubtedly a copy, but a very,
very good one. But don't you understand what it
means?”

I could see that the Grand Duchess saw some grand
joke in the matter, but was quite unable to guess what
it was.

“But don't you remember how sometime before the
war Mona Lisa had mysteriously disappeared from the
Louvre?” Anastasia asked. “The police searched for
it all over the world but never found it. Then Mona
Lisa reappeared as mysteriously as it had vanished.
But in the meantime some half dozen excellent copies
had been sold for fabulous prices. Don’t you under-
stand now that I must have discovered one of those
famous copies?”

“But are you sure the one you have discovered here
is not the original?” I asked.

“Oh, I am sure,” Anastasia laughed. “But it is the
kind of copy which could easily deceive a person who
does not know much about painting.”

“To tell the truth, I never knew Your Imperial
Highness was such a good art expert,” I said.

“I shouldn't say that I am an expert,” Anastasia
laughed again. “But I always loved paintings and we
had so many of them. I really know art quite well.
Besides, I have a flair. I can always tell a copy from
an original.”

And this, I reflected once more, was the woman
whom her friends pictured as a pathetic invalid with
an impaired memory, and her enemies as a Polish
peasant. The Grand Duchess’s memory, I was begin-
[176]

IN HIDING FROM REPORTERS

ning to think, was decidedly better than my own. I
myself had only a very dim recollection of the circum-
stances of Mona Lisa’s disappearance from the Louvre.
Nor did she seem to have lost any of her former mental
keenness. I could have seen that Mona Lisa in Miss
Jennings’ corridor any number of times, without arriv-
ing in so logical a fashion at Anastasia’s deductions.

After a while the Grand Duchess, to my delight,
expressed the wish to go to the movies. But before we
left the house Anastasia looked at me with a critical
eye and said regretfully;

"I wish you had a uniform. You would look so nice
in a uniform. It is terrible that nobody wears uniforms
anymore. And why aren’t you using perfume? Your
father always used so much of it.”

“I wish I could,” I said. “But in this country men
are not supposed to use perfume.”

“How sillyl” Anastasia said. “I love perfume.
Take some of mine,”

“I assure Your Imperial Highness that it isn’t done
in this country,” I laughed. “And if I come to the
movies perfumed, Heaven knows what people will
think of me.”

But Anastasia seized her bottle of perfume and
spilled it all over me.

“Thetel” 4he exclaimed Ulumpharvtly. “Now you
are perfumed I If I want you to use perfume, what do
you care what other people may think? And'please do
not call me ‘Imperial Highness.’ I am no longer an
Imperial Highness. Don’t you know that I am just a
plain Mrs. Tschaikovsky? You have to call me ‘Mrs
Tschaikovsky.’ ”

f'77]

IN HIDING FROM REPORTERS

"Your Imperial Highness can kill me, but I cer-
tainly will not call you by any such silly name,” I said.

“But why not?” she asked, trying to appear annoyed,
but unable to conceal a pleased glitter in her eyes. “I
have been married to Tschaikovsky and am, therefore,
Mrs. Tschaikovsky.”

“Your aunt, Grand Duchess Olga, is married to a
Mr. Kulikovsky, but nobody calls her ‘Mrs. Kulikov-
sky,’ ” I said. “And your cousin, Grand Duchess
Marie, was married to Prince Poutiatin, but nobody
calls her ‘Princess Poutiatin.' And if they remain
Grand Duchesses, in spite of their marriages. Your Im-
perial Highness remains one also.”

Anastasia leaned her head to one side, just as she
always did when arguing with me in the days of her
childhood, and observed:

“You are obstinate, aren't you? Well, I too am ob-
stinate. You may not call me ‘Imperial Highness.*
You didn’t call me ‘Imperial Highness’ when we were
children. What did you call me then?”

“At first I did call you ‘Imperial Highness,’ ” I said,
“and then you forbade it to me, just as you are doing
now. Aftenvards I called you ‘Anastasia Nikolaevna,’
but to tell you the truth, I thought of you mostly as ‘the
Little One.' ”

“You did?” she laughed. "Well, suppose, you call
me again ‘Anastasia Nikolaevna.’”

In the movies I found myself quite unable to look at
the screen. It remained difficult enough for me to
grasp fully the fact that Anastasia — “the Little One” —
was alive, had never been dead, belonged wholly to the
normal, everyday world. Still, it W’as somehow easier

[178]

IN HIDING FROM REPORTERS

to comprehend the fact as long as she remained in the
fantastic surroundings of Castle Seeon or even in Miss
Jennings’ weird house on Park Avenue. But to be sit-
ting at Anastasia’s side in that epitome of modern New
York — a Broadway movie theatre — was simply in-
credible.

But equally wonderful it was that Anastasia, in spite
of all her experiences and the never ending tragedy of
her persecution by her own family, was yet so com-
pletely normal and human a person as to be able to sit
in a movie and watch with interest some silly picture.
And so, while she kept looking at the picture, I kept
looking at her, as if unconsciously afraid that she might
suddenly dissolve in thin air, like a ghost.

But she did not dissolve and soon began to smile in
her usual amused and childishly mischievous manner.
Then, without turning her head, she whispered:

“Can’t you at least pretend that you are looking at
the screen?"

“It is very difficult,” I confessed.

“But you must try,” she laughed.

On our way home I pointed out to the Grand
Duchess the various newspaper buildings in the vicin-
ity of Times Square, Again she began to laugh like a
happy child.

“Think of all those poor reporters watching your
house in Hempstead, the Leeds’ place in Oyster Bay
and the Richard’s house in Hewlett, while you and I
are walking peacefully past their own offices in New
York," she said.

“That is just what I am thinking of ” I answered
“I must say that I am enough of a newspaper man my-

[' 79 ]

IN BIDING PROM REPORTERS

self to feel sorry for them. And I am rather astonished
that they let you slip through their lingers so easily.”

“They were not so terribly clever, after all,” Anas-
tasia smiled.

The Grand Duchess’s good mood, in the course of
those first days in New York, led me to commit a rather
bad blunder. I knew that Mr. Rachmaninoff was very
eager to see Anastasia, and I, myself, was equally eager
to have him see her. But being, in spite of his fame, as
shy as a child, Mr. Rachmaninoff was very much afraid
of calling at the house of a complete stranger — ^Miss
Jennings. Even so, I hoped that the matter could be
arranged, the more so that Anastasia had been very
favourably impressed by Mr. Foley and mentioned
several times how grateful she was to him for having
been of such help on the day of her arrival.

But when I asked the Grand Duchess whether she
would receive Rachmaninoff himself, she became very
much displeased.

“Why should I receive him? I do not want to re-
ceive him,” she said irritably.

Astonished, I began to argue that if she felt grateful
to Mr. Foley she should really feel much more grateful
to Mr. Rachmaninoff, for it was at the latter’s request
that Mr. Foley had met her on the boat. I also told her
that Rachmaninoff would be a most valuable friend to
her, and finally that he was a charming and kindly
man, sincerely eager to be of help;

“Wow car? he he sveb a ffood man?” lAnastasia sud-
denly flared up, “when he is rich and happy and living
in safety abroad, while his Emperor has perished?
Where was he with all his goodness when the revolu-
[ 180]

IN HIDING FROM REPORTERS

tion began? Or did he not consider himself bound by
his oath to serve his Emperor faithfully and die for
him if necessary?”

It was the first time that I saw Anastasia in such a
mood She was no longer “the Little One,” but an
indignant and imperious Grand Duchess
To an outsider Anastasia’s attitude towards Rach-
maninoff would have appeared preposterous, but to me
It did not I myself had been brought up with the
same uncompromising, essentially mystical, conception
of a subject’s duty towards his Sovereign which Anas-
tasia now stated It was characteristic that she spoke
of a Russian’s duty not towards herself, or any other
member of her family, but only towards her father, the
Emperor For, indeed, it was to the Emperor, and the
Emperor alone, that a subject was bound by his oath
Even the Empress and the Heir to the Throne were but
subjects of the Emperor To abandon the Emperor’s
family could be regarded as despicable, but not as
treasonable To abandon the Emperor was legally
treason

But why such outburst precisely against Rachmani-
noff, I ^^onde^ed Anastasia had never known him
He had always been a free artist His guilt towards the
Emperor, if any, was so much less apparent than that
of the thousands of military officers and bureaucrats
^^ho constituted the majority of Russian refugees Yet,
had not Anastasia herself talked to me in Seeon of those
refugees, with such touching solicitude?

It seemed to me that the answer lay in Anastasia's
own comment on Rachmaninoff as one who was “rich
and happy and living m safety abroad ” Most Russians

[iSi]

IN HIDING FROM REPORTERS

had reached the safety of foreign lands only after years
of incredible suffering and misadventures. Their own
escapes having been but happy accidents, one could
allow them the benefit of the doubt: perhaps they had
tried to do something for their Emperor, but failed, or
simply had not been in a position to do anything for
him.

Moreover, those of them who were obviously guilty
of treason had been punished severely by fate itself and
now led the lives of miserable outcasts. To Anastasia,
who had so evidently inherited her father’s paternal-
istic attitude towards the Russian people, those ^
wretched refugees were probably like children whose
disobedience had automatically inflicted upon them a
punishment so great as to change the parental anger to
pity and sympathy.

But Rachmaninoff’s case appeared different. He had
left Russia without any trouble and now was enjoying
greater fame and riches than ever before. It was that
latter circumstance which apparently made Anastasia
so angry with him. He, in her opinion, had no excuse
to offer for his failure to come to his Emperor’s aid, nor
had fate punished him in any way for what she re-
garded as disloyalty to his Emperor.

And I knew that I would never be able to explain to
her that men like Rachmaninoff, even if they had
to give their oath of allegiance, had done so simply in
compliance wdth a formality which meant nothing to
them; that having never been in Government scr\'icc
they had not regarded themselves, nor had been re-
garded by others, as having any special duty towards
their Sovereign. To Anastasia an oath was an oath,
[182]

IN HIDING FROM REPORTERS

and a man — be he a chamberlain or a saxophone player
— ^who had sworn his allegiance to the Emperor but
done nothing to rescue him from his enemies was guilty
of treason.

Even so, I continued to argue witli the Grand
Duchess until she finally allowed me — ^without, how-
ever, concealing her displeasure — to bring Mr. Rach-
maninoff into her presence at a certain day and hour.

Delighted, I hurried to Mr. Rachmaninoff, but had
to argue with him also, for much as he wanted to see
the Grand Duchess, he still felt nervous about going to
Miss Jennings’ house. I assured him, however, that
Miss Jennings would undoubtedly be only too happy to
see him, and he finally let himself become persuaded.

Then everything went wrong. In the entrance hall
we were met by Miss Jennings who must have forgot-
ten Rachmaninoff’s proposed visit and, with a gesture
characteristic of rich New Yorkers, pointed at him
with her finger and asked :

“Who is this man?’’

“But, Miss Jennings, this is Mr. Rachmaninoff,” I
hastened to explain.

But my introduction produced not the slightest
effect, possibly for the reason that, thoughtlessly
enough, I had pronounced the name “Rachmaninoff”
in the Russian, not the American, way.

“As long as you know him it’s all right,” was Miss
Jennings’ only comment.

I hardly dared to look at poor Rachmaninoff who
pressed himself to the wall as if hoping that it would
give way and thus permit him to escape. But worse
was to come. When I 'announced Mr. Rachmaninoff

[183]

IN HIDING mOM nDPORTERS

to the Grand Duchess she looked at me angrily and
said.

“Very ell Bring him in ”

And \\hen I did bring him in I found that in the
intervening minutes Anastasia had Jain down on her
bed and co\ cred herself up to her nose with blankets

Mr Rachmaninoff approached her bed, but she
looked at him without uttering a ^^o^d, her eyes full of
tears All three of us froze in utter embarrassment,
but I think that I felt worse than anybody else, being
wholly responsible for that painful scene After i few
minutes of unendurable silence Rachmaninoff tip toed
out of the room

I felt well nigh desperate, for I had no more hope of
ever again luring Rachmaninoff into the Grand Duch
ess’s presence Luckily, however, he accepted the
whole incident in a most charitable spirit and there
after appeared even more eager to help me than he had
been before The reason for the latter fact might have
been that Anastasia's adherents were constantly being
accused of hiding her from prominent Russians, sup
posedly in the fear that the latter would at once know
her to be an impostor I had at least convinced Mr
Rachmaninoff that, far from hiding the Grand Duch
ess, I was extremely eager to have her receive the peo
pie who wanted to sec her

In the meantime Princess Xenia had returned from
the West Indies I was of the opinion that the first
meeting between Xenia and Anastasia should take
place without any witnesses Such was the isolation m
which the Emperor’s family had lived, that even Pnn
cess Xenia had known Anastasia but little and, there
[ 184 ]

IN HIDING FROM REPORTERS .

fore, could not be expected to recognise her at first
glance. I thought it very important, therefore, to
enable the two cousins to have a heart to heart talk
during their first meeting which could w'cll prove
decisive in its consequences.

Also, being certain that the Princess would recognise
Anastasia in the course of her very first talk with her,

I wanted to preclude the possibility of any later accus-
ations that the Grand Duchess had been guided by
somebody during that talk. But my arguments proved
of no avail. Both Xenia and Anastasia felt quite nerv-
ous about that first meeting, and each in turn asked
me to be present.

I arrived at the Jennings’ house a few minutes ahead
of Xenia. In contrast with the day of Mr. Rachmani-
noS’s visit, I found the Grand Duchess, while undeni-
ably nervous, quite happy at the prospect of seeing at
last her cousin. I realised at once that there was
luckily not the slightest reason to fear this time that
Anastasia would again retire to the sanctum of her bed
and cover herself up to her nose with blankets.

If only — I mused — everybody could observe the
Grand Duchess as I was able to observe her. Had she
been an impostor her conduct would have been exactly
the opposite. She would have been only too eager to
impress favorably so important a personage as Rach-
maninoff, nor would she have tried to hide from him
because he had never known any member of the Em-
peror’s immediate family and could not have judged
of her identity on the basis of her appearance. At the
same time, it was of the meeting with Princess Xenia
that an impostor would have every reason to be afraid

[i8y]

IN HIDING PROM REPORTERS

But to Anastasia Rachmaninofi’ was a stranger and
— as I have already explained — a man who in her eyes
had not fulfilled his duly towards her father, the Em-
peror; hence she did not want to become acquainted
with him. But Xenia was her cousin and she was most
eager to see her.

Purposely, I made no reference to Xenia’s expected
visit, and Anastasia and I were engaged in some quite
inconsequential conversation when the door opened and
Xenia appeared on the threshold. She came in with a
timid smile which made her more attractive than ever.
I saw with astonishment a gayly plumed parrakeet
perched on Xenia’s shoulder and another one on her
hand.

It proved an excellent idea — those parrakeets. Xenia
had brought the t\vo birds from the West Indies espe-
cially for Anastasia, and the Grand Duchess, so fond
of all living creatures, was pleased beyond words. The
parrakeets instantly proceeded to make themselves at
home, fly all over the room and make funny faces at us,
thus creating an atmosphere of cheerful informality
and automatically starting an animated conversation.

I tried to remain as much as possible in the back-
ground, but both Anastasia and Xenia kept turning to
me with questions and observations, so that the conver-
sation remained general and nothing of any special
significance was said by anybody. But the atmosphere
was of the friendliest.

As in the course of my own first meeting with her,
although Xenia and I talked mostly fn Russian, Anas-
tasia understood ^our every word. But there was one
great difference between my first interview with the
ti86]

IN HIDING FROM RCPORTERS

Grand Duchess in Secon and her present meeting with
Xenia For in Sceon Anastasia herself had spoken
only German, while now, although she continued to
speak in German with me, with Xenia she spoke in
English — an English, moreover, which was not only
fluent but much better than her German
Towards the end of the visit Anastasia and Xenia
began to treat each other quite naturally and before
parting kissed tenderly Xenia evplained that she
could not take Anastasia to Oyster Bay at once, but
promised to do so soon and to visit her often in the
meantime When Xenia finally left I wanted to go
also, thinking that the Grand Duchess was probably
tired, but she asked me to stay and have tea with her
“Have you recognised Princess Xenia?” I asked the
Grand Duchess when we remained alone
“No,” she said .with her usual frankness “I last
saw her so very long ago and when we were both quite
small I could not possibly have recognised her now
that she is a grown up woman ”

“Did you like her?” I asked
“I did yes ” the Grand Duchess said halt-
ingly “There is only one thing I did not quite like
about her,” she added after a pause
“What IS It?" I asked
“Her eyes,” Anastasia said

I was not a little astonished “But she has such
beautiful eyes,” I said

“Oh, yes, they are pretty,” Anastasia agreed “But
1 did not mean that They are dark and I always mis
trust dark eyes ”

“How funny,” I laughed “Why?”

IN HIDING FROM REPORTERS

"Because I can*t see through them,” Anastasia ex-
plained. “Light eyes arc transparent. One can see
much easier what is going on in the mind of a person
with light eyes. But dark eyes arc like a screen which
shields a person’s thoughts and feelings. People with
dark eyes are much more likely to be false than those
with light eyes.”

It was an interesting theory’ and I could not help
reflecting that at least in the case of the two Imperial
cousins it seemed to hold true. No eyes could be more
transparent than Anastasia’s own and few people pos-
sessed her complete frankness. But, as I had already
discovered, the same could not be said of the dark-eyed
Xenia.

I did not, however, share that particular observation
of mine with the Grand Duchess. I did not want to
arouse any suspicions in her concerning her cousin.
Besides, I myself still did not believe Xenia capable of
deceiving people of whom she was fond. To be sure,
she had not been sincere with me, but I was a stranger
to her. Now that she had actually fulfilled her prom-
ise and brought Anastasia over to this country, cow that
I had just seen her treat the Grand Duchess with such
tact and affection, I was more than willing to attribute
her somewhat Byzantine behaviour toward me to the
difficulty of her position in her family and the efforts
of so many gossips to antagonise her against me. That
the Grand Duchess could trust Xenia fully I no longer
doubted in the least and did my best to convince her of
it.

Anastasia seemed quite willing to be convinced and

[i88]

IN HIDING FROM REPORTERS

listened to all my assurances with a pleased smile, but
in the end said:

“I hope you arc right. She has been very kind to me
so far. I only wish she had different eyes ”

On the whole, however, I was very much pleased
with that first meeting between Anastasia and Xenia.

So, apparently, was Mrs Derfelden, t\ho from the
very day of Anastasia’s arrival had maintained that no
competent person could fail to recognise her.

“I myself have not known Anastasia,” Mrs Der-
felden had told me after she had seen the Grand Duch-
ess for the first time “But her every gesture, her every
word reminds me of one or another of her closest
relatives. But it is of the Empress Dowager that she
reminds me most. She walks exactly the way the
Empress Dowager walks And did you notice those
strange modulations of her voice — that constant change
from high pitched notes to low, singing tones? The
only person with such a voice I have ever known is,
again, the Empress Dowager ”

Now Mrs Derfelden hastened to tell me that Xenia
too had become convinced of Anastasia’s identity.

“Yet Xenia was quite sceptical about it before,” she
added.

That last remark astonished me a great deal. On one
hand, of course, Xenia’s newly revealed scepticism ex-
plained further why it had proved so difficult to hold
her to her promise of bringing the Grand Duchess over
to this country. But now I began to wonder why had
Xenia always assured me of her complete faith in
Anastasia’s identity, if — as it now appeared — she had
no such faith at the time.

IN HIDING PROM REPORTERS

But I preferred not to raise that question. The more
opportunity I had to observe Royalty with a dispassion-
ate eye, free from my former childish adoration of
them, the clearer it became to me that their ways were
strange and impossible of explanation on the ground of
normal human psychology.

[ 190 3

VIII

WITH MISS JENNINGS

O NE evening, a day or two after Xcnia*s arrival,
Miss Jennings called me up on the telephone
and asked me to come to her house as soon as I
could get there. I was not a little perturbed, for I
lived on Long Island and felt certain that neither Miss
Jennings— nor, least of all, Anastasia herself— would
want me to come to the city at such a late hour, unless
something unusual and probably unpleasant had hap-
pened.

My guess proved correct. It was about eleven
o’clock when I reached Miss Jennings’ house, but none
of its inhabitants seemed to think of retiring; tele-
phones kept ringing and servants were dashing back
and forth in answer to many summonses. I was met by
Miss Jennings in person who took me aside and said:

“We had a telephone call from Billy Leeds. He has
received a report about a plot to kill the Grand Duch-
ess to-night. Most unfortunately, it was the Grand
Duchess herself who answered the phone. I was
watching her while she talked and understood at once
that something terrible had happened. Her face turned
ashen grey and she almost dropped the receiver. I
then took it away from her and Leeds repeated the
story to me. It appears that Leeds’ informant has
overheard in the subway a conversation between two
men who were discussing the plot.”

t m ]

rriTH MISS JENNINGS

“I should not be surprised if such a plot actually
existed/’ I said. “But I cannot understand how a plot
of this kind could be so openly discussed by two men —
in the subway, of all places.”

“It seems strange,” Miss Jennings agreed. “But you
can never tell. The best organised plots are often
given aw'ay in some such ioolish manner. The men
who talked about it did not seem to be the participants
in the plot, but one of them was apparently well
familiar with it. But, whether the story is true or not,
we certainly can take no chances. Billy Leeds could
not go into many details over the telephone, but he
assured me that he has good reasons to believe that the
matter must be regarded seriously.”

“Have you notified the police?” I asked.

“I have,” Miss Jennings said, "and they are sending
a plain*clothes man to watch this block. I have also
telephoned a detective agency and told them to send
two of their men. We have searched the house for
bombs but found nothing. But we discovered that it
was possible to reach the Grand Duchess’s room by
climbing along the edge of the roof, and I gave her,
therefore, a different room on another floor, which is
quite inaccessible from the outside. Can you think of
anything else that ought to be done?”

“It seems to me you have already done everything
possible,” I said.

“Very well,” Miss Jennings said. “Then let’s go to
the drawing room. The Grand Duchess is there alone
and she is very nervous.”

We found Anastasia pacing the floor, crumpling a
handkerchief in her fingers as she usually did when
[ 192]

WITH MISS JENNINGS

excited. Her face was covered with red spots — a pe-
culiar effect of nervousness she had inherited from her
mother, the late Empress Alexandra.

“This is terrible 1” she said to me as soon as I entered
the room.

“The only terrible thing about it is that you have
been told that silly story,” I said. “I would not take it
too seriously; and I can see that with Miss Jennings
watching over you as she does there is really nothing
to fear.”

Miss Jennings smiled, flattered. “You can rest as-
sured that nothing will happen to this little lady as long
as she stays with me,” she said. “I am not afraid of
anybody. I am a fighterl I will defy King George
himself with all his fleet, if necessary!”

The more I saw of Miss Jennings the more I liked
her, in spite of her somewhat austere attitude. Her
feeling towards Anastasia was really touching.

“Such a lovely child she is,” Miss Jennings told me
several times. “And so sensitive I She makes me think
of a high-strung instrument which one has only to
touch to make every string in it vibrate.”

We proceeded to discuss further Leeds’ report, but
were interrupted by the butler who announced the
arrival of the men from the detective agency. Miss
Jennings asked me to go with her to the hall to talk to
them. We found two individuals who looked like pro-
fessional thugs. One of them had a long scar across his
face. Both wore automatics at their trouser belts.
They smiled obsequiously but started the conversation
by demanding an advance payment of $ioo. I did not
know whether to trust my ears, but Miss Jennings took

1 193]

WITH MISS JENNINGS

out a pick of bills and gi\e the detectives a hundred
dollars as I would have given a nickel Her readi-
ness to pay any price asked for the Grand Duchess’s
protection ims touching, but I was unable not to re-
flect that so much money could be put to much better
use than the hiring of those men who inspired me with
anything but confidence

After some discussion of the situation it was decided
that one of the men avould remain on watch in the hall,
while the other would guard the house from the out-
side The matter settled A\e returned to the drawing
room

“I feel much safer now that the detectives are here,”
Miss Jennings said

“So do I,” I said “If those two bandits will neither
kill nor rob >ou, nobody else will ”

Miss Jennings laughed “They only look that way,”
she said “They come from a very reliable agency ”

“I still feel too nervous to go to bed,” Anastasia said
“And you do not have (o go to bed,” Miss Jennings
answered “Naturally, you feel nervous But we are
here to keep you company ”

We sat do>vn by the fireplace and Miss Jennings
plunged into endless reminiscences In her seventy odd
years she had seen enough things to keep an audience
interested for much longer than a single evening, and
her picturesque and juicy speech of an old New Yorker
added further to the charm of her recollections

I kept observing the Grand Duchess and noticed
with satisfaction how she was gradually calming down
under the soothing influence of Miss Jennings’ stones
Little by little the red spots disappeared from her face

[ 194]

WITH MISS JENNINGS

and after a while she began again to smile. But from
time to time she cast an anxious glance at the clock and
finally said:

“I am so ashamed to keep everybody up. But I am
still a little afraid to be left alone.”

“What nonsense!" Miss Jennings exclaimed. “You
are not keeping anybody up. We are having a won-
derful time, aren’t wc?” she turned to me for confirma-
tion. “We shall be glad to sit here till sunrise, if you
want us to, won’t we?”

I assured the ladies that I was quite prepared to sit
till sunrise and the following sunset. On my own part
I actually enjoyed the evening a great deal.

About half-past one Anastasia began to yawn and
smiling sleepily said that she was now ready to go to
bed.

“Well, I think that it is quite safe for you to go to
bed now,” Miss Jennings agreed. "If nothing has hap-
pened so far, I do not believe that anything will later.
The house is well guarded and it is quite impossible for
anybody to get into your new room from the outside.”

“Yes, I know. I am no longer afraid,” the Grand
Duchess said. “But what shall we do about him?” she
smiled, pointing at me with her finger. “If there are
any people who want to kill me they certainly must be
just as determined to kill Botkin.”

1 felt deeply moved by the Grand Duchess’s solici-
tude, but assured her that I did not regard myself as
being at all in danger.

“I wouldn’t be so certain of that,” Miss Jennings
observed.

“Of course, you are in dangerl” the Grand Duchess

• [ t95 ]

WITH MISS JENNINGS

exclaimed. “Couldn’t we keep him here for a few
days?” she asked Miss Jennings. “It w’ould be terrible
if he gets killed.”

“You are perfectly right and I should be delighted
to keep him here!” Miss Jennings answered. Then,
turning to me, she added: “You must stay here at least
until this whole affair is cleared up. We certainly
cannot afford to lose you.”

“You will not lose me so easily,” I laughed. “And
if you do, it will not be much of a loss. With you and
Princess Xenia taking care of Her Imperial Highness,
I could be safely dispensed with.”

“I think you underestimate your own role,” Miss
Jennings said. “Do you know, for instance, that it was
because of your articles in the newspapers that I
became so interested in the Grand Duchess’s case?
They were so convincing that, after reading them, I no
longer had the slightest doubt that she was the Grand
Duchess; and they made me so eager to do something
for her. Had I known how to get in touch with you, I
should have offered to bring her over to this country
right then.”

Another irony of fate, I mused. To think that dur-
ing those weary months when I was running all over
New York trying in vain to get somebody’s help for the
Grand Duchess, Miss Jennings wanted nothing better
than to give that help, but did not know how to ap-
proach me. It was, however, a little more than just an
irony of fate. Miss Jennings was well acquainted with
bofft Princess Xenra and Mes. Dccfddca, and AnsS'
tasia’s presence in her house proved that Miss Jennings
had offered her help to Xenia. Why then — I won-
[196]

JVITH MISS JBNNINGS

dered — had neither of those ladies put Miss Jennings
in touch with me? Why had Xenia pretended for so
long that she did not know where to find the money for
Anastasia’s transportation?

Those, however, were now questions which no longer
seemed to matter. As for Anastasia’s and Miss Jen-
nings’ invitation to stay with them until the danger to
us was over, I appreciated it greatly, but could not
accept it. There seemed not the slightest chance for
any malefactor to penetrate into Miss Jennings’ house,
but my wife and children were quite unprotected, so
that I thought it wiser to return home. After arguing
some more, the two ladies agreed to let me go, but
made me promise to come back on the following day.

So I did and found the Grand Duchess once more in
a very good mood. Now she seemed to think all the
excitement of last night quite funny, although she was
by no means certain that Mr. Leeds* report had been
entirely groundless. Neither was I, but we were never
to discover whether any such plot had actually existed.

Anastasia showed me her new room and not only
retained me for the whole afternoon, but when the time
for dinner came, began to insist that I should dine with
her. Nothing could have pleased me more, but I felt
that it would be rather an imposition on Miss Jennings
and tranVly s-ald va Va Sb.a laaked mt

with a puzzled expression and asked:

“But why should you worry about Miss Jennings
when I am inviting you?”

Asked by any other person in Anastasia’s position
such a question would have appeared as plain lack of
consideration on the part of a guest towards her hostess.

tw]

WITH MISS JENNINGS

But certainly nobody could have been more considerate
towards^ her friends, including Miss Jennings, than
Anastasia was. Simply, under all circumstances she
remained — quite unconsciously so — a Grand Duchess,
the Emperor’s daughter. And if she— the Grand
Duchess— wanted to invite somebody for dinner, who
could possibly object? Above all, how could I have
any misgivings about accepting her invitation? Very
likely Miss Jennings herself had told her to invite
anybody she pleased, but w'hether she had or not, Anas-
tasia was obviously of the opinion that it was not for me
to question her actions, least of all to wonder whether
it was proper to accept her invitation.

I saw that I could not refuse to stay for dinner with*
out offending her mortally, but felt far from com-
fortable about the matter until Miss Jennings appeared
in person. Anastasia was not in the room at the mo-
ment, but seeing me Miss Jennings smiled and said:

“I am so glad you are still here. I have to go out
and was quite worried about leaving our little lady
alone. Could you do me a favour and have dinner with
her?”

I heaved a sigh of relief and hastened to assure Miss
Jennings that I ■would be delighted to stay for dinner.*
She thanked me and left. A few minutes later Anas-
tasia came back and I told her about Miss Jennings’
visit. She burst into laughter.

“Now what did I tell you?” she c.\'claimed. “Afiss
Jennings didn’t invite mel Miss Jennings didn’t invite
mcl Now she did invite you, didn’t she? But why
should you have worried at all when 7 have invited
you?”

[198]

WITH MISS JENNINGS

All of which she said without a trace of arrogance,
but in the same tone in which in the days of our child-
hood she used to tease me with having been fooled by
the shoe she had left under the curtain, or my inability
to turn on the electric switch in my father’s stateroom.
Obviously, she felt that 1 had committed a terrible
faux-pas by having hesitated to accept her invitation,
and now that, on top of everything else, my hesitation
had actually proved quite unnecessary, was delighted
with such an opportunity to tease me.

A few days later Anastasia said to me : “I am afraid
that I shall quarrel with you soon.”

“Why?” I asked, somewhat dismayed.

“I don’t know why,” she said, shaking her head with
a puzzled expression on her face. “I always quarrel
with people. But you know it yourself. With all the
people who tried to help me in Germany I have
quarrelled, one after another — Dr. Gruenberg, the
Schwabes, Mrs. von Rathlef . . . There seems to be a
devil in me who makes me quarrel with people.”

“In some of the cases — the Schwabes, for instance —
I think, from what I know, that you were quite justified
in quarrelling,” I said. “Why you have quarrelled with
* Mrs. von Rathlef I could never quite understand. I
admit that she docs not have what is called a winning
personality, but she is sincerely devoted to you. Be
that as it may, if you know that there is such a devil in
you, why succumb to him? Why don’t you try to com-
bat that devil? Each of us has at least one, often many
such devils in him. But we try to combat them. Why
don’t you?”

She looked at me pensively, then shook her head

t»99]

WITH MISS JENNINGS

again and said : “I can’t explain it myself. But I do
know that there is nothing I can do with that particular
devil. I know it is wrong. I know there is no reason
for it. But I also know that there is no person near me
with whom I shall not quarrel sooner or later. I think
I have kept from quarrelling with you for a longer
time than with any other person. But I know that in
the end I shall quarrel with you too. I almost did when
you brought Rachmaninoff to me,” she concluded with
a guilty little smile.

“It will be a sad day for me,” I said. “But of one
thing I want to assure you: you may quarrel with me
as much as you please, but I shall never lose my devo-
tion for you. So, should you ever need me after having
quarrelled with me, please remember that you can al-
ways count on me.”

“I felt so myself,” the Grand Duchess said. “It was^
because of this that I have started this conversation.
There is something I must tell you before I have quar-
relled with you. Do you know anything about that
matter of my money in the Bank of England?”

I gave a start. I had heard so many different stories
about that money, but had never dared to question the
Grand Duchess herself on the subject.

“I do know a little,” I said. “But I certainly do not
know all of it.”

Anastasia’s face assumed a very grave e.vpression and
her eyes became moist. I knew now what that expres-
sion on her face meant: she was thinking about the past.
My guess proved correct.

“It was then ... in Ekaterinburg, shortly before
that dreadful night . . . you know . . .” she began
[ 200 ]

WITH MISS JENNINGS

haltingly. “My father called us once togctlier—my
sisters and myself, I mean . . . He told us that were
any of us to escape by some miracle, we should remem-
ber that Tve had money in the Bank of England.”

She paused and began to crumple her handkerchief.
I could see how she was struggling with herself in an
effort not to lose her self-control. Every recollection
of those horrible days made her suffer agonies, often
even caused her to run a high fever.

“I should like to ask you a question,” I said.

She nodded, indicating that she would allow me to
do so.

“Why did His Majesty tell my father in Tobolsk,
that he had no money left in the Bank of England?”

“Because he did not have any money left there,”
Anastasia answered, “My father had used all his own
money to pay for the munitions Russia bought from
England during the war. The money he told us about
was our money. He had it deposited shortly before the
war for my sisters and myself. He told us that he had
not felt it his right to touch that money, because it was
ours. And he also told us that it was a camouflaged
account of which nobody knew anything, except the
man who had deposited the money, and which could
not be found by simply examining the bank’s books.
He told us also the name of that man who knew about
it, and the amount. I do remember the amount — five
million roubles for each of us, that is, twenty million
roubles in all. But I do not remember the man’s name.
I tried and tried to remember it, but never could. All
I do remember is that it was not a Russian name, but a

[ 201 ]

WITH MISS JENNINGS

Germanic name — a very short name ... a one syl-
lable name . .

She paused again, then once more shook her head
and said: “No, I cannot remember it. But when
Aunt Olga came to see me in Berlin in 1925 she asked
me whether I knew anything about the money left by
my father in England. She said that she and Aunt
Xenia had searched everywhere and could not find it,
yet they thought that there had been money left in the
Bank of England. I told her then why she could not
find it. There was no money of my father’s left in
England— only ours. And I told her everything about
it — ^what I am now telling you. . .

I sat breathless, afraid to interrupt that tragic yet all-
important account which was to give me at last the
complete picture of how the Grand Duchesses Xenia
and Olga had betrayed their unfortunate niece.

“I also told it all to Zahle,” the Grand Duchess
resumed. “And he wrote to the Bank of England and
received the answer that the money was there and
everything I had told him was correct. It was, of
course, a very confidential ansiver, which Zahle will
never show to anybody. The Bank wrote him only
because he was the Danish Ambassador and taking care
of my affairs at the request of my Danish granduncle.
But Zahle did show it to me and he also said that, unless
I would claim that money, it would be given to my
aunts ten years after my sisters* and supposedly my own
death. Do you understand what that means? Ten
years will expire on July 17th of this year. And do
you know what my aunts have done? They have dc-
[202]

TFITH MISS JENNINGS

dared me an impostor and made a claim for my
money.”

“I know,” I said; and how very difficult I found it
to say those two words.

“July 17 th is not far away," Anastasia said, “and
nothing has been done as yet to prevent my aunts from
getting my money . . Suddenly her eyes lit with
anger, “I do not care about that moncyl” she ex-
claimed. “I wish it had never existed 1 But I do care
that my aunts should not be rewarded for their treason
by being given that money. It is this that I wanted to
tell you: promise me that they will not get itl Promise
me that even if I should quarrel with you, you will not
let them have itl Let it disappear, vanish, but promise
me that my aunts will not profit by their treason 1 ”

I felt shaken to the very depths of my heart. Never

He* York Cl^, Ceoeaber I5tb.l92B»

tfCr&ud isaatasla SlkoliiTBeiia .Tonnfest d&a^ter

ead eorrlTlnc of tbe late tm^noT Blcbolas 11

asd l^preaB Alexandra of Haaela, do berebj deolare tb&t
after oor faally bad. left St^'Petere^urg vere la exile
At SkaterlBbers In Slberla^Terj ebortly before the deaths
of the other asabere of nr fanil/, ttf Father told 07 three
sisters sad ■7Belf that before tbe World Yfar In 1914,
be bad deposited In tbe Bask Of Badland Fire Ullllen Ron*
bles eaeb for 17 three sisters asd sjself*

la 19XS,sbeB X was In Berlin, the Baaieh Asbaosador
Zable at Berlin, sboa z bad told of this deposit, of senlos.
nado official lnqnlx'le8,and Ter7 sbortlf aftersard In-
foraed Be that be bad reoelred as asesor to Us Is7alr7,
tbat there wore cenlee on deposit for B7 sisters bj_
self In the Bash Of thtdlasd^bot tbe was nswUllse to
state tbe aeoimt.

L203]

jriTn MISS JENNINGS

before had the dislojalty of the Grand Duchesses
Xenn and Olga appeared to me so clearly— >in all its
unforgtnblc ugliness Never before had I realised so
full> whnt ghastlj wound they had inflicted on Anas
tasiVs childishly trusting soul
Nor would anjbodj — I venture to sa> — no matter
how aloof or even callous, hive felt differently in my
place Seldom have I seen a human face express such
utter misery as when the Grand Duchess spoke of her
aunts’ “treason” Nor could the greatest cjnic have
doubted the profound sincerity of Anastasia’s words —
or rafficr moan of despair “X do not care about that
mone>l But I do care that my aunts should not
be rewarded for their treason ”

As I remained silent, too upset to say an> thing,
Grand Duchess Anastisia asked
“Do jou promise?”

“I promise 1’ I answered

“Even if I should quarrel with >ou?”

“Even if you should quarrel with me,” I said, “do
anything, save kill me Should such a danger arise, I
Will not leave a stone unturned to prevent your aunts
from getting your moneyl”

Anastasia gave me a long, grateful look, but said
nothing more *

'Esrij' n }gi4 s purate banker M Veter Bark was appoatei as the
Russ an Master of F Qsoce and wh le la office made several tr ps to
England Suhsrquentl^ M Bark was dismissed from terv ce but after the
revolut on em grated to England where he became the Manag ng D rector
«»of the Anglo Internal ooal Bank — a large tubs d ary of the Bank of Eng
land He died early n 1937 The fact that he possessed a one syllable
German c name may however be a pure co nc dence for iC is understoi^
that he never revealed the ea stence of the fortune n the Bank of England
even to the Grand Duchesses Xen a and Olga whose close adv ser he was

[204]

WITS MISS JENNINGS

I had given that promise in all sincerity, vi'ould have
given it under any circumstances. At the same time, I
did not think, while giving it, that I should ever be
called upon to do anything about the matter. Every
time I met her, Mrs. Derfelden assured me again and
again that there was nothing left for me to worry about,
that Princess Xenia, having fully recognised Anastasia,
would do everything for her, take her on a visit to the
Empress Dowager, obtain her formal recognition and
have all her rights restored to her. And if I had
learned not to take too seriously either Mrs. Derfel-
den’s or Xenia's assurances given to me personally, I
yet felt utterly convinced that never would they betray
Grand Duchess Anastasia.

For the present, all I wanted was to see Anastasia
installed in Oyster Bay. With Miss Jennings Anas-
tasia was, of course, quite safe and well taken care of,
but, in spite of all, her kindnesses and attentions. Miss
Jennings remained a stranger to the Grand Duchess.
I also felt it important for Anastasia and Xenia to
become better acquainted before their proposed visit to
the Empress Dowager ; and that visit had to take place
before very long if Anastasia’s aunts were to be pre-
vented from inheriting her money. Finally, with the
approach of spring it was so much better for Anastasia
to be in the country than in the city.

I was, therefore, greatly pleased when in early spring
Princess Xenia at last took the Grand Duchess to Oys-
ter Bay. I felt that my own mission in the struggle for
Anastasia’s rehabilitation had thus been brought to a
successful end, giving me the moral right to return to
my regular work. It was high time for me to do so

[ 205 ]

mTH MISS JENNINGS

because my family was by now in pretty desperate
straits.

Needless to say, I planned to visit the Grand Duch-
ess in Oyster Bay from time to time, but, aside from the
necessity of devoting myself wholly to the task of earn-
ing a living, I thought that for the first few weeks at
least the two cousins had best be left to themselves; I
informed, therefore, Princess Xenia that I would not
come to Oyster Bay without a special invitation on her
part.

That invitation came much earlier than I had ex-
pected. One day Xenia telephoned and asked me to
meet her in the city at her doctor’s office whence she
would drive me to Oyster Bay.

She greeted me with all the cheerful cordiality of
our earlier meetings and began at once to talk about
Anastasia.

“Now r quite agree with you,” she said among other
things, “that nobody who has seen her can have any
honest doubt as to her identity. And I am glad to say
that Anastasia and I are getting along beautifully
together,”

She proceeded to tell me of all the amusing little
occurrences in her daily life with Anastasia, of the
latter’s charm, wit and incomparable sense of humour.
How good it was to hear all those familiar stories 1 I
felt back in Czarskoe Selo, listening to the latest ac-
count of the delightful activities of the adorable “Little
One.”

It appeared that the parrafccets Xenia had brought
from the West Indies also contributed a great deal to
the joyful excitement of the new life in Oyster Bay.
[206]

JVITH MISS JENNINGS

Particularly funny was Xenia’s story about the commo-
tion the parrakcets had caused one day by flying out the
window. It happened in the morning when all the
inhabitants of the Leeds’ house were only beginning to
get out of their beds and Xenia herself was sitting in
her bathtub. Luckily, after a scene which, if photo-
graphed, would probably have made the best Holly-
wood comedies appear tame by comparison, the
parrakeets had been induced to return to the house.

“But at times," Xenia said, “Anastasia gets very sad ;
especially, when she remembers some of her experi-
ences. Did she tell you, for instance, of her journey
from Roumania to Germany?”

“No, she did not," I said. “I always have tried to
keep her from dwelling on such horrible memories.”

“One has to,” Xenia agreed. “But every once in a
while she begins to talk of them and then one cannot
stop her. One evening I was telling her of my own
experiences at the beginning of 1920 and she suddenly
became terribly upset and said: ‘And to think that all
of you led such happy lives then. Do you know what
I was doing in 1920?’ And she began to tell me of that
journey. I assure you, it w'as an ordeal merely to listen
to her. It appears that having no passports, she and
that Tschaikovsky, or whoever he was, had to cross
every frontier unobserved by the authorities, and to do
so were often forced to walk for miles through unin-
habited regions. All of that in the middle of the win-
ter and with Anastasia barely able to stand on her feet.
One story she told me about roaming in a forest with
hungry wolves howling on all sides, really made my

[207]

TriTIJ MISS JENNINGS

hair stand on end. It is hardly possible to imagine
what she lias suffered — the poor thing.”

“All I know,” I said, “is that at the time of my own
escape from Russia I felt that I had sufTered the maxi-
mum I was able to endure. A little more, and I should
have gone mad or committed suicide. Yet I am a man,
in a normal state of health, and certainly the worst
things that happened to me appear as nothing com-
pared to Anastasia Nikolaevna’s experiences. That she
was able to go through all that without turning into a
raving lunatic, indeed without even Josing'her courage,
her sense of humour, her sense of the Joy of life, is be-
yond my comprehension. She is a true wonder."

“She is," Xenia agreed.

After a while the Princess began to question me in
considerable detail on the nature of the existing proofs
of Anastasia’s identity. Xenia w’as particularly eager
to locate two lost pieces of evidence which were actu-
ally quite important. One was a bracelet which Anas-
tasia had always w'orn, but w-hich had been taken away
from her in Dalldorf, The other was the English let-
ter Anastasia had written also in Dalldorf in 1920 to
her godmother, Princess Irene of Prussia. That letter
had been given either by the Dalldorf authorities or by
Anastasia herself to the same Russian who in 192/ had
managed, in some mysterious w'ay, to dissuade Sergei
Tschaikovsky from trying to get in touch with Police
Commissioner Gruenberg.

Some of the questions on which I myself was not
quite clear I advised Xenia to discuss with Anastasia
personally.

“I wanted to,” Xenia said, “but Anastasia does not
[208 ]

WITH MISS JENNINGS

like to talk much of all those affairs. Besides, she
seems to have an unbounded confidence in you. When
it comes to such technical problems, about the only
answer I can obtain from her is; ‘Ask Botkin. He
knows what to do.’ From the way Anastasia talks of
you one would think that there is nothing in the world
you do not know or could not do. You see, it appears
that you are still quite indispensable to us.”

The last remark Xenia made with a smile, but the
kind of smile which gave me the impression that she
was far from pleased with that particular phase of the
situation.

I hastened to assure Xenia that, while I was deeply
touched by the Grand Duchess’s high opinion of me
and on my own part was only too eager to be of help, I
certainly could no longer be regarded as indispensable.
My only value consisted of my rather thorough knowl-
edge of Anastasia’s case, but anybody could acquire
similar knowledge by applying himself to the study of
it with sufficient diligence.

We arrived in Oyster Bay just in time for dinner to
which Xenia had also invited her sister. Princess Nina,
and Mrs. Derfelden. Anastasia, as usual, preferred to
cat alone in her room. The atmosphere at the dining
table appeared of the friendliest and after dinner
Xenia took me upstairs where the Grand Duchess was
awaiting us.

I was happy to observe the cordial familiarity which
had established itself betrveen Anastasia and Xenia.
They had obviously become genuinely fond of each
other. Also, as I had expected, Anastasia appeared
much more content and at home than she had been in

[209]

WITH MISS JENNINGS

Miss Jennings’ house. We chatted for more than an
hour and only once did Anastasia’s good mood give
way to a sudden flash of displeasure. As usual, Xenia
and I began to talk to each other in Russian, but Anas-
tasia interrupted us:

“Please do not speak that awful language in my
presence 1” she exclaimed. "Why do you have to do it
when you can both speak English? If you two could
only realise how painful the very sound of Russian is
to me I”

It was the first time that I heard the Grand Duchess
state her true reason for refusing to speak Russian and
at times even pretending that she did not understand
it. I felt rather dismayed. The case with which she
had resumed the use of English had given me the hope
that one day Anastasia would in like manner begin to
talk Russian. But, whatever her reasons for refusing
to speak English may have been, she certainly had
never disliked the language itself — on the contrary, was
very fond of it

That the Russian language had become hateful to
her was not difficult to understand. From the very
beginning of the revolution the Sovereigns and their
children had been constantly subjected to the humilia-
tion of being ordered by their different guardians to
talk Russian. All the abusive remarks, the obscene
jokes which they had been forced to endure during
their isst /mo.ths jjo EkaserJjDbiuy had,, of course, also
been said in Russian. It was only natural, therefore,
that Russian had become to Anastasia, so to speak, the
enemy’s language. And if such were the case there was
[aio]

JFITH MISS JENNINGS

little hope that she would ever want to speak Russian
again.

Except for that revelation, I was extremely pleased
by everything I had seen and heard on that day in Oys-
ter Bay. To see “the Little One” not only in safety and
comfort, or rather luxury, but in the midst of her own
relatives, among people none of whom questioned any
longer her identity, who treated and addressed her as
her own self, gave me a tremendous joy. Truly, she
had not been in such co;igenial, and in every respect
favourable, surroundings since the very time of her
escape from Russia. I could not feel grateful enough
to Princess Xenia, and no longer regretted all the de-
lays, tribulations, unpleasantnesses and sacrifices which
had proved necessary to achieve such happy results.

Regrettably, my joy was not to remain undiluted for
long. One day Mrs. Derfelden informed me — rather
gleefully, I thought — that Anastasia was terribly angry
with me and would never see me again.

“Why? What's happened?” I asked, bewildered.

“She has discovered that, after your return from
Europe, you have written about her in newspapers,”
Mrs. Derfelden said. “I am afraid you have done her
a great wrong. She has trusted you so blindly. You
ought to have seen how horrified she was when in an-
swer to her question I had to admit that you have writ-
ten newspaper articles about her. 1 only wish I could
have lied, but I had to tell her the truth. She was
simply crushed.”

“This is absurd 1" I retorted. “She knew all along
that I have written about her.”

Mrs. Derfelden seemed somewhat taken aback.

[211 ]

WITH MISS JENNINGS

“Perhaps she has forgotten it,” she said “Anyway, she
was simply horrified ”

But I did not pay much attention to the rest of her
story The truth of the matter was only too obvious
Anastasia had alwa3rs known that I had written about
her and her very trust in me was based largely on the
fact that I was the first to state openly m print that she
was actually and beyond all doubt Grand Duchess
Anastasia If my newspaper articles about her had
anything to do with the Grand Duchess’s sudden anger
against me, it must have taken Mrs Derfelden a great
deal of time to persuade her that I ought not to have
written about her

All of which was very sad, but not necessarily tragic
In a way, Mrs Derfclden^s efforts to antagoni«e the
Grand Duchess against me had to be taken as a “very
good sign Mrs Derfelden had to feel pretty certain
of Anastasia’s early recognition by her family if she
was already fighting so hard for the position of the
Grand Duchess’s closest confidante I even could not
help laughing at that miniature Imperial Court, with
all Its intrigues and subterranean struggles, which had
so quickly developed m Oyster Bay But my own task
had already been accomplished The Grand Duchess
no longer needed me My absence from her entourage
could conceivably even help matters by bringing her
and Xenia closer together I had restored Anastasia
into her own circle and now it was only proper for me
to withdraw

But Mrs Derfelden wanted apparently to make a
thorough job of my withdrawal, for a few da>s after
her announcement that Anastasia had decided ncier to
1212 ]

WITH MISS JENNINGS

see me again she called me up on the telephone and,
without any preliminary explanations, asked:

“What have you done with that costly jewel the
Grand Duchess entrusted to you? She wants it back
from you immediately!"

“Costly jewel?” I asked, uncomprehending. “When
on earth did the Grand Duchess possess a costly jewel?
I am sure, I do not understand what you arc talking
about.”

“Oh, you ought to have a better explanation than
thatl” Mrs. Derfelden retorted with no attempt at
politeness. “The Grand Duchess told me to-day that
in Seeon she had given you a costly jewel, and now she
wants it back. Where is it?”

I was about to say something not very polite and
hang up when I suddenly remembered — the swastika;
the swastika which my sister had given to Anastasia
and Anastasia had given to me with the request to re-
turn it to my sister. Having been unable to see my
sister in France, I had kept the swastika and so in-
formed the Grand Duchess. As for its eost, still plainly
marked on the box, it amounted to exactly ay French
francs, or, according to the exchange of the time, one
American dollar I

“You are not talking about a swastika, by any
chance?” I asked Mrs. Derfelden.

“Ah, so you do remember?” she said triumphantly.
“Yes, a gold swastika studded with rubies.”

“Certainly,” I said. “Now I remember and shall be
glad to return it to you immediately.”

“I am glad you still have it,” Mrs. Derfelden said
meaningfully.

[2t3l

WITH MISS JENNINGS

I took the “costly jewel” and hastened with it to Mrs.
Derfelden’s apartment. She almost tore the little box
out of my hands. But the moment she opened it her
jaw dropped and completely losing her usual poise she
exclaimed :

“This horrible little jigger?”

“Rather bad, isn’t it?” I said. “However, it was a
present from my sister and the best she could afford, I
am sure.”

Mrs. Derfelden, who now looked extremely ill at
ease, launched on a lengthy explanation as to how the
Grand Duchess had supposedly led her to believe that
she had given me a jewel of great value, but I hastened
to take leave of her. It was very convenient always to
blame everything on Anastasia; and whatever Anas-
tasia may or may not have said, and whether she was
actually angry at me or not, I felt certain that at the
bottom of her heart she continued, and always would
continue, to trust me.

She may, perhaps, have temporarily succumbed to
that devil in her of which she herself had warned me.
Even then, that devil, in the present instance at least,
did not seem to have come entirely by himself. Nor
could I feel in the least offended with her, for a person
who had gone through such horrible experiences would
be justified in doing worse things than succumbing
from time to time to that devil of quarrelsomeness and
mistrust.

But I could not help feeling amused at all the trouble
to which Xenia and Mrs. Derfelden were putting
themselves in their effort to eliminate me from any
further participation in Anastasia’s case. Why, I won-

[214]

TFITH MISS JENNINGS

dered, those quarrels, accusations, intrigues — all that
ugly mess, when, as I myself had repeatedly made clear
to her, all Xenia had to do in order never to see me
again was simply to cease inviting me to Oyster Bay.

But all those were purely academic speculations.
The main fact remained that I had done for the Grand
Duchess all that had seemed possible for me to do
under the circumstances and could do nothing more.
Not unless Grand Duchess Anastasia should find her-
self again in trouble would I so much as think of re-
turning to any participation m her affairs; and I felt
virtually certain that her troubles were over.

[215]

IX

OYSTER B~Ar

T he month of June had just begun. I was work-
ing hard on my book, making illustrations,
planning to revive a syndicate feature I bad
been running in 1926 . . . The case of Grand Duchess
Anastasia — so strange, so utterly unrelated to a normal
existence in the modern world — was rapidly relegating
itself in my memory to the position of a bewildering
interlude which refused to attach itself to any definite
time and clearly did not seem to belong to everyday
reality.

From time to time I received, indirectly, some news
about the Grand Duchess. Apparently everything was
going well with her. Princess Xenia had repeatedly
slated her certainty that her guest was indeed her
cousin, Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia. Grand
Duke Andrew had likewise made public his acknowl-
edgement of Anastasia and confirmed it emphatically
in several letters; he even authorised the publication
of one of them in the editors foreword to a book Mrs.
von Rathlef was about to publish. In it he wrote
among other things:

“We next come to the question which has giren rise to
considerable doubt, Tvhether the ‘Unknown’ resembles the
Grand Duchess (Anastasia) in appearance. I have seen
her personally, and was greatly impressed by the striking
similarity; I was even more struck by the general family
[216J

OYSTER BAY

resemblance -which in some respects is of almost^ greater
importance than a personal likeness. My impression was,
of course, a personal one, but It was so strong and so con-
\nncing that I could come to no otlicr conclusion than that
the patient could only be Grand Duchess Anastasia Niko-
laevna herself.

“All the doubts so far expressed by the press are com-
pletely removed by the scientific and practical results of my
investigation.”

In his letter to me Grand Duke Andrew wrote:

“I think I do not have to explain to you to what extent I
am interested in the fate of the Grand Duchess, especially
after our meeting in Paris when I liave fully recognised
her. That meeting provoked a real storm in many circles,
and most unexpected protests. If before some people were
mildly hostile to her, their hostility has now acquired an
especially acute form. Apparently, it is most unpleasant to
somebody. Therefore measures of special precaution must
be taken to make the future of the Grand Duchess secure,
and we must prepare ourselves for the unavoidable fight
for her.”

In the same letter, by the way, dated April 3rd, 1928,
Grand Duke Andrew wrote also:

“As for the future development of the case, it seems to
me that it will be impossible to avoid a litigation in court.
If all the relatives will be against her, and at present there
are no reasons for them to acknowledge her, the Grand
Duchess will have to start court action in order to wash off
herself the humiliating label ‘impostor.’

“On this account I am corresponding with a prominent
German lawyer in Berlin who, after investigating the case,
has arrived at the conclusion that it will be comparatively
easy to win such a litigation.”

[217]

OYSTER BAY

Andrew further expressed the hope that Princess
Xenia would finance the litigation and contribute the
$jo,ooo which he regarded as the necessary minimum.
He admitted that the cost seemed high but argued that
it was “nothing if compared with the tortures and suf-
fering the Grand Duchess had gone through.”

It was lucky, I reflected, that the litigation had
proved unnecessary. Xenia^s plan of taking Anastasia
on a visit to the Empress Dowager was, of course,
much the better. That visit, I assumed, would have to
take place very soon. For the present Grand Duchess
Anastasia was staying with Mrs. Derfelden and Miss
Jennings in the latter’s house in Bridgeport, Connecti-
cut, but was supposed to return shortly to Oyster Bay
and then go with Princess Xenia to Europe.

All of which was most gratifying. And at times I
permitted myself the luxury of picturing that happy
day — in a none too distant future — when all news-
papers would carry cables from Europe announcing
the formal acknowledgment of Grand Duchess Anas-
tasia by her grandmother.

But one afternoon I was called up on the telephone
by Mrs. Derfelden, I had not expected ever to see or
hear from her again and, besides, had believed her to
be still in Connecticut. My astonishment changed to
alarm when Mrs. Derfelden, with all the friendliness
of former days, asked me to come at once to her apart-
ment in order to discuss a matter of greaPimportance
to Grand Duchess Anastasia. Something pretty bad
must have happened, I thought, if Mrs. Derfelden, of
all people, was turning to me for help.

Mrs. Derfelden welcomed me as if no unpleasant-
[ai8]

OYSTER BAY

ness had ever occurred between us. She told me that
she had just returned from Connecticut because Anas-
tasia bad quarrelled with her. Much to my joy, Mrs.
Derfeldcn was not blaming the Grand Duchess in the
least. She even maintained that she could probably
have patched up the quarrel had it not been for Miss
Jennings and Princess Xenia both of whom had sided
with Anastasia,

“But what I wanted to see you about is this,” Mrs.
Derfelden said. “Anastasia told me that she had made
you promise not to let her aunts inherit her money.
She made me give her the same promise. I happen to
know for certain that nothing at all is being done to
prevent the Grand Duchesses Xenia and Olga from in-
heriting Anastasia's money. We are already in the
beginning of June and they are to get the money in
July. Now Anastasia is back in Oyster Bay and Prin-
cess Xenia does not allow anybody — not even me — to
either see Anastasia or communicate with her in any
way. You can guess the rest.”

“And how about Xenia's promise to take Anastasia
to Denmark?” I asked.

Mrs. Derfelden shrugged her shoulders. “I do not
believe Xenia plans to take her anywhere," she said.

“But why? What has happened?” I asked. “Has
Xenia changed her mind in regard to Anastasia's
identity?” ,

“No, not at all,” Mrs. Derfelden said. “Xenia is as
convinced of Anastasia's identity as ever. But appar-
ently she has decided to let Anastasia’s aunts have her
money. And they will get it unless you do something

[219]

OYSTER BAY

to prevent them. And inasmuch as you have promised
Anastasia . .

She launched on a long speech, trying to convince me
that I could not fail in my duty towards the Grand
Duchess.

“And another thing,” she said in conclusion. “Grand
Duchess Xenia is again making the ugliest accusations
against Grand Duchess Anastasia and all those who
have befriended her, including myself. You cannot
afford to permit her to talk about us in this manner.
After all, by defending Anastasia and me against Xenia,
you will be defending your own reputation.”

I could not help chuckling at this latter observation.
Apparently Mrs. Derfelden simply could not conceive
of anybody doing anything without some ulterior mo-
tive.

Those, however, were incidental reflections. The
fact remained that I needed no inducement to come to
the assistance of Anastasia now that she had once more
fallen into a trap. And what a trap 1 Were the Grand
Duchesses Xenia and Olga allowed to inherit Anas-
tasia’s fortune, they would never be able to acknowl-
edge her publicly after that, for such acknowledgment
would be equivalent to an admission on their part that
they had accepted from the Bank of England money
belonging to Anastasia. And when even now people
were so hesitant in helping Anastasia, for fear of dis-
pleasingheraunts, who would so much as move a finger
for her when her formal acknowledgment would
threaten those aunts with such dire consequences?

We discussed the situation at length. Needless to
say, I did not know how much I could accomplish.
[ 220 ]

OYSTER BAT

Mrs. Derfelden, completely ignoring her recent de-
testation of newspapers, urged me to give the situation
the widest possible publicity and make it generally
known that the Grand Duchesses Xenia and Olga —
and not Anastasia and her friends — were the real cul-
prits. To me, however, it seemed that this time
publicity alone was not likely to do Anastasia much
good. Just that spring I had made the acquaintance of
a distinguished latvyer, the Hon. Edward H. Fallows,
son of the late Bishop Samuel Fallows of the Reformed
Episcopal Church. Mr. Fallows, who at one time had
been very close to President Theodore Roosevelt, en-
joyed e-\’ccllent connections not only in this country,
hut also in England. He also seemed much interested
in the case of Grand Duchess Anastasia. I told Mrs.
Derfelden that I should like to consult Mr. Fallows
and she agreed that it was the best thing I could do.

I returned home from my visit to Mrs. Derfelden in
a very sad mood. All my hopes for an early recogni-
tion of Grand Duchess Anastasia were eclipsed. I
blamed myself for having so stubbornly disregarded
all the many past actions of Princess Xenia. But at the
same time it distressed me deeply to admit that a per-
son of Xenia’s charm and lovableness could have mis-
led not only me, but also one of her best friends, Mrs.
Derfelden, and, worst of all, her unfortunate cousin.
Xenia’s conduct was the more baffling because, unlike
most of her relatives, she' did have the courage to ac-
knowledge openly Grand Duchess Anastasia. The
whole situation seemed quite incomprehensible and
equally exasperating. I felt I was emerging from a
fool’s paradise into an extremely messy reality.

I ]

OYSTER BAY

On the following day I called on Mr. Fallows and
had a long conversation with him which I later
confirmed with a seven-page letter. I stated to him em-
phatically that I represented nobody other than my-
self, that I was not empowered to act as Grand Duchess
Anastasia’s agent, and, also, that as far as the situation
in the Bank of England was concerned, I had no direct
personal knowledge of it. But I gave Mr. Fallows all
my reasons for believing that Anastasia’s own story
about her money in the Bank of England was substan-
tially correct

Mr. Fallows promised me to get in touch with some
attorneys in London who could at least tell us whether
the c.\istence of such money In the Bank of England
was probable and, if so, what, if anything, could
be done to prevent Anastasia’s aunts from inheriting it
He added that if there were no money in the Bank of
England the bank’s officials would have no reason to
conceal the fact of its absence. Only the presence —
not the absence — of a deposit in a bank would require
secrecy. Thus, the mere advice to us to take some
measures for the protection of Anastasia’s fortune
would be a virtual admission of the fact of its existence.

Such, indeed, proved to be the advice Mr. Fallows
promptly received from the London lawyers to whom
he had written. In their opinion Grand Duchess Anas-
tasia had to obtain as soon as possible a court order
forbidding the Bank of England to turn her money
over to her aunts.

The problem which now faced us was how to get in
touch with the Grand Duchess. Carl Kelsey, who had
proved as loyal a friend to Anastasia as he had to me,

[ 222 ]

OYSTER BAY

volunteered even to secure a yacht and approach the
Leeds’ estate from the Sound, in the hope that Anas-
tasia might some day come to the beach. But this
seemed a rather slim hope, nor was it possible to pre-
dict how the Grand Duchess herself would react to
such an effort to reach her. She was quite likely even
to imagine that Mr. Kelsey had come to kidnap or
perhaps to kill her.

And while we were wondering what to do, precious
time was being lost. How precious the time was I did
not fully realise in consequence of an error on Mrs.
Derfelden’s part. I had always remembered, of course,
the fatal date — July 17th, 1918 — of the Sovereigns’
and my father’s death. As late as on June 5th, 1918 , 1
wrote to Mr. Fallows that Anastasia’s money was to be
turned over to her aunts on July 17th of that year. But
Mrs. Derfelden began to assure me that the date of
July 17th referred to the old Russian calendar which
was thirteen days behind the modern calendar; in other
words, that the Sovereigns had been killed on July
30th.

I had at the time no unquestionable source at hand
through which to verify the matter. What Mrs. Der-
felden’s argument was I no longer remember, but it
must have been weighty, for I finally accepted her
opinion in spite of the fact that July 30th happened to
be my birthday, and never before had I associated that
anniversary with the date of the Ekaterinburg mas-
sacre.

But the lawyers in England were getting restive and
demanding immediate action on our part. Then fol-
lowed a swift e.\change of letters and cables, until I

[223]

OYSTER BAY

wis finilly advised from London to cable a legal no-
tice, Signed by myself, to the effect that Grand Duchess
Anastasia of Russia was still alive So I did and the
notice was served on the Bank of England and other
banks on July 13th

Having no certainty that such notice would suffice,
and thinking that we still had until July 30th to com
plete our action, I decided, with Mr Fallows’ consent,
on the somewhat desperate step of writing to Grand
Duchess Anastasia personally

In my letter I reminded Anastasia of our conversa-
tion about her money and informed her that, as far as I
had been able to ascertain, the money was still in the
Bank of England, but was likely to be turned over to
her aunt, Grand Duchess Xenia, on July 30th I
further informed Anastasia that to prevent her aunt
from inheriting her fortune she had to obtain a court
order which could be done without any trouble or
publicity I recommended Mr Fallows as the attor
ney who, having worked with me, was familiar with
the situation and could easily attend to the matter I
advised her, however, to discuss the question first with
Mr Leeds

In order to make it clear to Princess Xenia that I was
not trying to do anything behind her back, I wrote a
separate letter to her also and attached to it a copy of
my letter to the Grand Duchess I mailed both letters
in separate envelopes, by special delivery, on July 12th

Oj3 SoiJowwg wbicb^ significantly enough^
happened to be Friday the 13th, Mrs Derfelden called
up and asked me to come to her apartment at half
past four in the afternoon

[ 224]

OYSTER BAY

I found Mrs. Dcrfelden in a state of agitation quite
unusual to her.

“Xenia has received your Jeffers and is furious,” she
informed me, “She asked me to tell you that she cate-
gorically refuses to help Anastasia obtain either a for-
mal recognition of her identity or her money.”

Such sudden frankness on Xenia’s part astonished me
not a little,

“But how can she refuse, after all her promises?” I
asked, “What reasons does she give?”

“She says,” Mrs. Derfelden explained, “that a for-
mal acknowledgment of Anastasia would hurt badly
the reputation of Grand Duchess Xenia and several
other members of the Imperial Family. As for the
money, she says that Anastasia does not need it because
she, Princess Xenia, is going to support her for life.”

“But how preposterousl” I protested. “So Grand
Duchess Anastasia has to live for the rest of her life
regarded by the world as an impostor, just be-
cause the formal acknowledgment of her identity
would hurt the reputation of Grand Duchess Xenial
In other words, Grand Duchess Xenia, having at-
tempted to deprive Anastasia of her just rights, must
now be protected from the unpleasant consequences
which might well follow. But Anastasia, who is ut-
terly innocent of any wrongdoing, can go on living with
the reputation of a fraud I”

“I know it is preposterousl" Mrs. Derfelden agreed,
“And the money?” I went on. “How nice of Prin-
cess Xenia, who has nothing more to offer than her
position as the wife of a wealthy man, to guarantee
Anastasia’s maintenance for life and on that ground

[225]

OYSTER BAT

permit Anastasia to lose title to her own fortune! Why
should Anastasia — the rightful heiress to a fortune of
millions of dollars — Uve all her life on the charity of
an American merchant? And what if Leeds himself
should object to supportingherl"

“Exactlyl” Mrs. Derfclden agreed once more. “But
this isn’t all ; Xenia also wants me to tell you that she
has intercepted your letter to Anastasia and under no
circumstances will she let her see it.* Also, that she
plans to stop you legally from doing anything further
to help Anastasia or hamper Grand Duchess Xenia in
her plan for inheriting Anastasia’s money.”

“Stop me legally?” I wondered. “Just what does
she mean by stopping me ‘legally’? If she means go-
ing to court, then it is certainly she, not I, who is likely
to get into trouble.”

“That is precisely what I have pointed out to her,”
Mrs. Derfclden said. “I told Xenia that she could do
nothing to stop you because you are not doing anything
illegal.”

“And what did she say to that?” I asked.

“She said : ‘It makes no difference. Botkin and Fal-
lows have done enough mischief already, and I will
stop them in one way or another,^ ” Mrs. Derfclden
answered. “She also told me to obtain your answer to
her message.”

“My answer is,” I said. “First, that I advise Prin-
cess Xenia to consult a good attorney, because otherwise
she is hkeJy to get herself into very serious trouble. In
the matter of stopping my letter to Anastasia, for in-

*The otigiaal letter with seal unbroken and with proper cancellation b?
the Oyster Bay Post Office, intercepted by Princess Xeiua, is in the possession
of the author.

[ 226 ]

OYSTER BAT

stance she has placed herseU in a dangerous position.
Interfering with the United States mail is a grave of-
fence, you know. And if Xenia chooses to assume such
an arrogant and inimical attitude towards me, I will
take steps to prevent her getting away with this kind
of thing.

"Moreover, as far as the general situation is con-
cerned, we are now quite obviously faced with a clear
attempt to deny Grand Duchess Anastasia her Just
rights. Such action has been taken systematically in
the course of years by a large group of people, includ-
ing the Grand Duchesses Xenia and Olga and M. Gil-
lard. Now Princess Xenia joins them and openly
states her aim in joining them — she wants me to stop all
activity in defending the rights of Grand Duchess Anas-
tasia and not to hamper Grand Duchess Xenia in her
efforts to inherit Anastasia’s fortune. Could anything
make her purpose plainer than this?

"Now, I personally still refuse to believe that Prin-
cess Xenia acts in this manner because of any ulterior
motives. She is not trying to get the money for herself,
but for the Grand Duchesses Xenia and Olga. But it
is a question whether she could convince any court of
law of this; and whether she does or not, her participa-
tion in this case remains a fact admitted by herself.
Not as an enemy, but as a friend, I advise Xenia not to
get herself into that kind of mess; and 1 am sure that
both her husband and her lawyer would be horrified to
know what she is doing.

“The second thing I want you to tell her is that I beg
her to reconsider her own position. I should infinitely
prefer to cooperate with her, or at least remain on

[ 227 ]

OYSTER BAY

terms of friendly neutrality, rather than fight against
her. I like her personally. I am very grateful to her
for what she has done for the Grand Duchess so far. I
hate to see her get into trouble because of her honesty
in recognising Anastasia openly, when she could have
disowned her as most of her relatives have done. But
under no circumstances can I permit her, or anybody
else, to deprive Anastasia of every chance of being re-
instated in her rights. No matter what Princess Xenia,
or even the whole world, has to say, I will continue to
do my utmost to protect Anastasia against the machina-
tions of those who oppose her. And one thing I am
going to do right now is to follow the advice you gave
me a month ago and publish as much about the whole
matter as newspapers will dare to printl”

“You are perfectly rightl” Mrs. Derfeldcn ex-
claimed, beaming, “I am very happy that you take
this attitude, and you may be assured of my whole-
hearted support in everything you do. I shall com-
municate your answer to Xenia right away and let you
know later in the day what her reaction to it was.”

Mrs. Derfelden telephoned me again the same eve-
ning, shortly after eleven o’clock. She spoke in a very
excited voice.

“I have changed my mind on the situation,” she said.
“Now I must beg you to do nothing more in defence of
Anastasia’s rights I”

I could hardly believe my ears. “What made you
change your mind?” I asked. “Have you talked to
Xenia?”

Mrs. Derfelden did not answ'cr.

[228]

OYSTER BAT

“Hare you talked to Xenia?” I asked again. “Have
you given her my answer to her message?”

“All I can say,” Mrs Derfelden answered enigmati-
cally, “is that I beg you to withdraw from the case and
do nothing more. Any further activity on your part
will have very sad consequences for you personally.”

“Considerations of that nature will never stop me
from performing what I consider to be my duty,” I
assured Mrs Derfelden. “If it is to Xenia’s threats
that you refer, I assure you that they will not prevent
me from defending Anastasia’s rights ”

“I know how you feel about it and I admire your
courage,” Mrs Derfelden said. “But in the present
situation you simply cannot afford to do anything more.
Do not forget that you have other duties. You have a
wife and five children You do not seem to realise the
full extent of the danger you are threatened with.
Were you at least certain you could save Anastasia’s
money, it might have been different But you are not
even certain of that Under the circumstances, you are
more than justified morally in not taking any further
chances ”

“Just exactly what am I threatened with?” I asked.

“Well, I personally am certain,” Mrs Derfelden
answered, “that unless you discontinue immediately
all further activity in favour of Anastasia, something
terrible will happen to you ”

“Now this IS getting to be interesting,” I said. “And
who is going to do it?”

“Do not forget that the two sons of Grand Duchess
Xenia, the Princes Dimitriy and Rostislav, are in this
country,” Mrs Derfelden said.

[aap]

OYSTER BAY

“So that’s it?” I said. “What do those fellows want
to do — summon me to a duel?”

“Oh, they themselves would never attack you,” Mrs.
Derfelden said. “But there are plenty of Russian mon-
archists who might do itl”

“I am not going to be intimidated by cowards of any
sort,” I retorted.

“Now please do think it over,” Mrs. Derfelden con-
tinued to plead. “I can assure you, this is not a vain
threat. I am utterly certain that, should you make one
more move in defence of Anastasia, an attempt on your
life will be made.”

“I appreciate your solicitude,” I said. “But my an-
swer to all such princes and monarchists is to betake
themselves to the devil. They shall not frighten mel”

On that our conversation ended, and I was not to see
or talk to Mrs. Derfelden till many months later, for
shortly after our conversation, her daughter, Mrs.
Auchincloss, suffered a terrible accident. Arrived in
Washington in an aeroplane, Mrs. Auchincloss went
forward to talk to the pilot, and walked right into the
path of the propeller which had not yet been stopped.
The propeller hit her on the head twice before she fell
to the ground. At first the doctors declared that she
had not the slightest chance to survive. But survive by
some miracle she did. Her convalescence^ however,
lasted many months, all of which Mrs. Derfelden, who
is a most devoted mother, spent in her constant attend-
siics.

Later I often wondered what turn events would have
taken had the accident to Mrs. Auchincloss not oc-
curred. Could Mrs. Derfelden have continued in her
[230]

OYSTER RAY

role of mediator betrveen Princess Xenia and myself,
the struggle which was to follow might have proved
less disastrous to everybody concerned.

Be that as it may, having received the threat against
my life, I hastened to call on the general-manager of
the syndicate which had published my articles on Anas-
tasia a year previously, and asked him whether he was
willing to publish more material on the same subject,
mentioning in some way the financial aspect of the case.

The strange part of it was that in the meantime all
newspaper and magazine editors had lost all interest in
Anastasia, so that it was only by way of a personal
favour and in fulfillment of his earlier promise that the
general-manager agreed to accept my articles. Also, it
was not a fortune he paid me for them but a very mod-
est sum which barely enabled me to pay for the work
done to protect Anastasia’s fortune in the Bank of Eng-
land.

On July iSth I was bewildered to find in the news-
papers a statement given to the Associated Press by
Mr. Leeds. In that statement Leeds, while expressing
his conviction that his guest “Mrs. Tschaikovsky” was
actually Grand Duchess Anastasia, declared:

“We are not trying to get any fortune for her and we
are not trying to prove that she is the Grand Duchess.
Nobody Js interested in proving that."

Anastasia, herself, he added, wanted nothing but to
“lead the normal life of any normal young woman."

At the same time Leeds admitted that he had re-
ceived several reports about a fortune left by the Rus-
sian Emperor in England, one of the estimates giving
as high a figure as $ 8 q, 000,000.

OYSTER BAY

Still imagining that Anastasia's money was to be
turned over to her aunts on July 30th, and not the 17th,
I took Leeds’ statement as another of the steps Princess
Xenia was taking to make matters easier for Grand
Duchess Xenia. In consequence, I felt, and was ad-
vised by others including Mr. Fallows, that I could
not let Leeds’ statement go unchallenged. Accord-
ingly, I issued a statement of my own, for the first time
openly accusing the Grand Duchesses Xenia and Olga
of trying to inherit Anastasia’s money, and expressing
my opinion that Mr. William B. Leeds had no author-
ity to waive Anastasia’s rights.

My statement appeared on July 19th. On July 20th
I received a note from Princess Xenia asking me to
come, at my earliest convenience, to Oyster Bay for a
conference with herself and her husband. For a mo-
ment 1 thought that Xenia’s note might be the result
of my answer to Leeds’ statement, but looking at the
date discovered that the note had been delayed in
transit, for Xenia had written it on July i8fh.

I was as surprised by the invitation itself as by the
polite tone of Xenia’s note, so different from her last
messages given to me by Mrs. Derfelden. Among
other things, Xenia wrote me of her decision not to
allow Anastasia to read my letter, giving as her reason
her fear that my letter would have upset Anastasia to
the point of affecting her health.

I answered Xenia immediately, accepting her invita-
tha sad sskiag hcc (a sec the dste for our coetfereuce.

I felt it necessary to register my protest against her
action in intercepting my letter to Anastasia, but did so
in a very polite tone. Finally, I thought it advisable

[232]

OrSTER BAY

to give Xenia an amicable explanation of my statement
of July 19th.

“It was painful for me,” I wrote, in part, “to make
a public accusation against members of the Imperial
Family, but the responsibility for it lies entirely with
them since they themselves started years ago to de-
nounce publicly Grand Duchess Anastasia who is cer-
tainly much more representative of the Imperial
Family than they are. Yet Grand Duchess Anastasia
has never done anything wrong while her aunts . . .
steadfastly refused to avail themselves of the many op-
portunities offered them to acknowledge Grand Duch-
ess Anastasia without too great a loss to their prestige;
nor have they paid any attention to the many warnings
that the true situation could not remain hidden from
the public at large much longer. . . .

“At the same time I wish nothing more but to be of
every help and assistance to you provided you would
make this possible for me by aiding Anastasia Niko-
laevna to obtain justice and full rehabiliation. . . .

“May I also add that while the position I would
have to take publicly towards you in regard to Anas-
tasia Nikolaevna’s case will wholly depend on your
own attitude towards the matter, I will always preserve
for you personally the feeling of sincerest admiration
and it would be extremely distressing to me to be
forced to stand in opposition to you in the eye of the
public,”

It seemed to me that I could be neither more
straightforward nor obviously willing to effect the re-
conciliation Xenia’s note appeared to suggest.

What puzzled me, however, was why Xenia had de-

[233]

OYSTER BAY

cidcd to write to me precisely on July i8th. Her final
threat to me, ending all our negotiations, had been
transmitted by Mrs. Dcrfcldcn on July 13th. At that
time Xenia had clearly enough displayed her determi-
nation to have nothing more to do with me. On my
part I had given no indication of the slightest desire to
resume any negotiations with Princess Xenia. What
then had given her tlic sudden wish to see me and made
her assume so much pleasanter a tone towards me?
Obviously, something must have happened between
July 13th and July i8th.

And then it was that once more I asked myself the
question whether Mrs. Dcrfcldcn had been right in
insisting that the Imperial Family had perished on
July 17th by the old, not the modern, calendar. I
hastened to make a new search for some definite clue
on the subject and finally found it. I had been right
and Mrs. Derfeldcn wrong: it was by the modern
calendar that the Sovereigns had been killed on July
17th. Hence, it was on July 17th — not July 30th —
that Anastasia’s aunts had to present their claim for
her money to the Bank of England. In other words,
they had already done sol

I gasped at the thought of it. Did they get it?
But whether they got it or not, the reason for Xenia’s
change of attitude and her wish to see me became clear
to me: on July 17th Anastasia’s aunts had attempted
to get her money and Jhad either failed or succeeded.
No doubt, they had informed Princess Xenia of the
results of their move, by cable. Also, whatever those
results were, the whole situation had obviously changed,

[234]

OYSTER BAY

now that the crisis which I was still expecting in the
near future had already passed.

The only question now was, what exactly had hap-
pened on July 17th? I could hardly force myself to
wait for my meeting with the Leeds which, by com-
mon consent, had finally been set for the afternoon of
July 22nd.

X

IN THE NICK OF TIME

O N July 22nd, upon my arrival at Oyster Bay, I
was conducted to the boat house and on my way
there had the pleasure of seeing one of those
brave young princes who, according to Mrs. Der/elden,
were planning my destruction, loitering in the garden.
Needless to say, I made no attempt to approach him,
and he in turn walked away rapidly.

I was greeted by both the Leeds with surprising
friendliness, but noticed that Princess Xenia looked
very nervous and Leeds himself rather ill at ease. He
began to talk about some such subject as the weather,
apparently not knowing how to start the discussion for
which we had foregathered. At last he said :

“I saw your answer to my statement in the news-
papers and, to tell you the truth, thought it not so hot”
“It wasn’t meant to be ‘hot,’ ” I smiled. “And I re-
gretted the necessity of making it. But your own state-
ment, you must admit, was quite improper. Neither
you, nor anybody else, is authorised to waive the rights
of Grand Duchess Anastasia to her formal recognition
and fortune.”

“I never meant to do that,” Leeds said. “In fact, I
never gave out any kind of statement. Some fellow
called me up on the telephone and asked me a lot of
questions, and, as far as I remember, I kept refusing

[236]

IN THE NICK OF TIME

to answer them and then they printed that so-called
statement. And you at once jumped on me.”

“Naturally, I did not know the circumstances,” 1
said. “Even so, as long as you have done nothing to
refute the statement attributed to you, it has, for all
practical intent and purpose, become your statement.
If you did not make it, you should have issued an im-
mediate denial.”

“I suppose so,” Leeds said. “But, anyway, I didn’t
make it and I want to assure you right now that I never
intended to waive Anastasia’s rights. I may add that
since the publication of your own statement every news-
paper in town has called me up and asked whether I
wanted to make any protest against it, and I have flatly
refused to do so. This should prove my good faith to
you.”

“But how could you have made such an accusation
against Grand Duchess Xenia?” Princess Xenia asked.
“She doesn’t even believe that there is any money in the
Bank of England. And from your statement one might
think that there exists some understanding between
Auntie Xenia and ourselves, when in reality I haven’t
had a letter from her for months.”

“It would seem to me,” I said, “that the whole mat-
ter of our statements to the press was based on a series
of misunderstandings. Personally, I am quite willing
to express my regrets to you and regard the incident as
closed. I should like, however, to be given the assur-
ance that were I to write another letter to Grand Duch-
ess Anastasia it will not be intercepted. Aside from
anything else, nobody is allowed to interfere with the
United States mail. Also, Grand Duchess Anastasia

[237]

IN THE NICK OF TIME

has every right to receive the letters addressed to her.”

“You are quite right,” Leeds said hastily. “It was a
mistake and I am offering you my apologies. I promise
that it won’t happen again.”

“I appreciate your attitude,” I said, “and will gladly
consider that incident also as closed.”

“But you are very much mistaken if you imagine that
Anastasia will ever answer your letters 1” Xenia ex-
claimed. “She hates youl And why have you started
writing about her in newspapers again? Can’t you
understand that any kind of publicity only hurts her
case?”

“No, I certainly cannot understand that,” I answered.
“In fact, I now bitterly reproach myself for not having
given her case all the publicity I could at the time
when it was easy to do so. As long as no legal measures
arc taken to protect the Grand Duchess’s interests pub-
licity remains the only weapon with which I can de-
fend her.”

“And why do you imagine yourself called upon to
defend her?” Xenia exclaimed again. "What I cannot
understand is what you are doing all that for? What
do you hope to gain? Anastasia hates you, I can assure
you. She hates the very sound of your name! She will
never agree to see you or have anything to do with youl
And she docs not, as you imagine, want to be acknowl-
edged or given her money. All she wants is to be left
in peace! But you think you can win her good grace
by writing all those horrible things about her, when
she hates nothing so much as being w'ritten about in
nc^vspapcrsI”

“Oh, let’s not argue about that,” Leeds said. "If Mr.
[^ 38 ]

IN THE NICK OF TIME

Botkin wants to write about Anastasia in the papers
nobody can prevent him from doing so. This is all
beside the point. It isn’t of publicity that you wanted
to talk to him.”

Xenia opened and closed her mouth several times,
obviously not knowing how to begin.

“Yes, it is of something else I wanted to speak to
you,” she finally said, her voice rising in sharp, metal-
lic tones. “What right did you have to do that dreadful
thing?”

“What dreadful thing?” I asked, astonished.

“Oh, you know perfectly well what I am talking
aboutl” Xenia began to shout “What right did you
have to tie up the money in the Bank of England?”

For a few seconds I stared at Xenia in silence, then
burst into laughter. So my guess had proved correctl
Something did happen between July 13th and July
1 8th I And how very happy I was to learn what had
actually happened: my legal notice proved effective.
Anastasia’s fortune was saved — saved in spite of my
stupid error in regard to the date of the Sovereigns*
death 1 It was no accident, of course. The lawyers in
England must have known the correct date all along.
It was for tl^is reason that they had pressed us for im-
mediate action. Nor had that action come a bit too
soon : it was on the 13th of July— only four days before
the deadline — that my notice had been served on the
bank.

My laughter increased Xenia’s irritation further.
“The thing isn’t funny — it is dreadfull” she ex-
claimed. “How did you dare to do it? And what po-
sition am I in now? How can I convince the Grand

f 239]

IN THE NICK OF TIME

Duchesses Xenia and OJ^ that I had nothing to do
with the tying up of the money?”

“Just a moment, Your Highness,” I interrupted her.
“What money are you talking about? I have heard it
stated repeatedly, and you yourself said only a few min-
utes ago, that according to Grand Duchess Xenia there
is no money in the Bank of England. Such being the
case, what did my legal notice accomplish but tie up
a lot of fresh air?”

Xenia looked at me, puzzled. But in a moment she
flared up again ;

“You can’t get out of this with that kind of a jokel”
she screamed. “You have tied up the money and now
it is your duty to release it immediately!”

“But there is no money in the Bank of England,” I
repeated. “Still further, may I enquire how did you
happen to learn that I have served a legal notice on the
Bank of England? To begin with, nobody, not even
Grand Duchess Xenia, could have learned about it
except on July 17th, and then only if on that date she
attempted to gain possession of Anastasia’s fortune. But
you claim that she does not believe in the existence of
that fortune. Why then did she apply to the Bank of
England on July 17th? But let us assume, that she
went there just for fun. Why should she be at all per-
turbed about my legal notice which, in her belief, must
have tied up nothing? Finally, you have told me that
you have not heard from Grand Duchess Xenia for
months. How, then, did you happen to know on July
1 8th — the date on which you requested me conic to this
conference — what Grand Duchess Xenia learned in
London only on July i7ih?’*

[ 240 1 .

IN THE NICK^OF TIME
\ ' '
Poor Princess Xenia was by now'beside herself wkh
anger and instead of answering my
shout again that I had done a dreadful thing and now
had to undo it. But Leeds interrupted her.

“Let’s come down to brass tacks,” he said. “Natu-
rally the money must be there and we must have heard
from Grand Duchess Xenia. But that’s all neither
here nor there. The question is, what are we going to
do now?”

“There is exactly nothing I can do now,” I answered.
“I have served a notice on the Bank of England to the
effect that Grand Duchess Anastasia of Russia happens
to be alive. Needless to say, I will not withdraw that
notice. But it would not change anything even if I
were willing to withdraw it. You do not imagine that
such an institution as the Bank of England would have
accepted my notice at ail, unless, in the first place, they
felt pretty much convinced in the bank that I know
what I am talking about, and, in the second place, had
pretty good reasons of their own to believe Grand
Duchess Anastasia to be alive. Do you think that any-
body could walk into the Bank of England and tie up
the money by declaring, let us say, that the Russian
Emperor is still alive? My notice was obviously
nothing but a formality which had enabled the Bank of
England to act upon a knowledge of fact they already
had but could not formally attribute to any source.
The only way to get that money released is, either for
Grand Duchess Xenia to prove in court that Grand
Duchess Anastasia is an impostor, or else for Anastasia
herself to prove that she is Grand Duchess Anastasia.
What could be fairer than this?"

IN THE NICK OF TIME

“I admit that I do not see how, under the circum-
stances, you could be accused of any sinister machina-
tions,” Leeds chuckled. “At the same time, you know
better than anybody that Grand Duchess Xenia cannot
prove Anastasia to be an impostor, because she isn’tj
and Anastasia can prove nothing at all, because she has
no money to start a litigation and I know of nobody
who is going to finance her. Now, you must have re-
alised all that when you served that notice of yours on
the bank. You must have had some solution in mind.
What is it?”

“A very simple one — compromise,” I said. “For
Anastasia the matter of financial inheritance is only
incidental to the far greater problem of the formal
recognition of her true identity. It is obvious that were
Xenia and Olga allowed to inherit Anastasia’s money
they could not acknowledge her afterwards without con-
fessing by their very acknowledgment the fact that they
had deceived her, as well as the Bank of England. But
there is certainly enough money in the bank to take care
of the whole Imperial Family. The way to settle the
dispute is for Xenia and Olga to acknowledge Anas-
tasia, and for Anastasia to give them whatever part
of her fortune they wish.”

“Now you arc talkingl” Leeds exclaimed. “You arc
quite right — ^it’s .I’clearcase for a compromise.”

“It is nothing of the kind!” Xenia intervened. “An-
astasia is so mad at her aunts that she will never give
them a centi”

“And do you sec any reason why Grand Duchess
Anastasia should feel particularly fond of her aunts?”

I laughed.

[242]

in' THE NICK OF TIME

“How can you keep laughing?” Xenia shouted, exas-
perated. “Don’t you realise what you have done?
Don’t you understand that, formally acknowledged and
given such a fortune, Anastasia will have every chance
of becoming the Empress of Russia?”

That was an argument as new as it was bewildering.
"Frankly, I have never thought of that,” I said. “In
my personal opinion there is almost no hope for the
restoration of monarchy in Russia and none at all for
the return of the Romanov dynasty to power.”

“Dp you imagine that you 'can make me believe that
such is your true opinion?” Xenia asked. “Everybody
knows that the restoration of monarchy in Russia is
only a matter of time. And never will there be any
dynasty except the Romanov dynasty! You know ft as
well as anybody. And do you care nothing about the
welfare of the Russian people? Do you consider An-
astasia fit to rule? Do you know that she threatens to
hang all her relatives on lamp posts for what she calls
their treason, the moment she becomes Empress?”

“No, I never knew anything of the sort,” I confessed.
“But, if such is her intention, members of the Imperial
Family will not be faced with any new problem. All
they will have to do is to continue in their present resi-
dences outside of Russia.”

“You seem to think all those jokes of yours very
funnyl” Xenia retorted. “But members of the Im-
perial Family cannot indulge in silly jokes. It is the
welfare of their people that they have to think about.
Anastasia’s regime would be worse than anything
they’ve had in Russia since the revolution. It is for this
reason that several members of the Imperial Family

[243]

IN THE NICK OF TIME

have decided not to acknowledge Anastasia and not to
allow her to inherit her money!”

“I thought they refused to acknowledge her because
they believed her to be an impostor,” I smiled.

“Oh, stop it!” Xenia said. “Who believes her to be
an impostor? Everybody knows that she is not an im-
postor! But members of the Imperial Family think
first and above all of the Russian people whom they
love. But much do you care about the Russian people.
You want to place her on the throne and you will place
her on the throne without caring a bit that you are giv-
ing Russia another Ivan the Terrible. She says herself
that Ivan the Terrible and Peter the Great are her ideal
rulers!”

The debate was getting funnier by the second and
once more I could not refrain from bursting into
laughter.

“All this is news to me,” I said. “But of one thing
I can assure Your Highness: I never realised that I
had the Russian throne in my pocket and could dispose
of it according to the dictates of my fancy. But if such
is the case I should never allow any member of the Ro-
manov family to occupy it. In fact, I shouldn’t let
anybody have it, but sit on it myself.”

“Now you are at least getting frank I” Xenia
screamed. “But don’t imagine that you have ever fooled
anybody. We all knew it all along. All I can say is
that I pity poor Anastasia. You will keep her on the
throne just as long as it suits your convenience. As soon
as you feel strong enough you will have her murdered
and, as you yourself admt^ seize the throne for your-
self I”

r 2^1

IN THE NICK OF TlllE

“My dear, my dear . . Leeds said beseechingly.
While Xenia and I were quarrelling he had seated
himself on a table in the corner of the room and was
quietly sipping some liquid refreshment. “After all,
we have a serious matter to discuss. Why don’t you
tell Mr. Botkin of the offer the Grand Duchesses Xenia
and Olga want to make?”

Xenia looked around like a person emerging from a
trance. “Oh, yes,” she said after a while. “What they
want to offer is this ; if you allow them to inherit Anas-
tasia’s money and agree that she is not to be acknowl-
edged formally, they wilt, in return, give Anastasia
something out of that money and send her to some quiet
retreat in Europe. You personally will also be taken
care of.”

“How generous!” I said. “They will inherit Anas-
tasia’s money and give her ‘something.’ However, that
part of the offer is for Grand Duchess Anastasia to
consider. As for the offer made to me personally, I
refuse even to discuss itl And I repeat that even if I
were the kind of crook capable of accepting such an
offer, it would not change the situation in any way.
The money is securely tied up and will remain tied up
until released through a litigation."

“Your attitude is beyond my comprehension!” Xenia
again began to shout. “How dare you oppose the
whole Imperial Family? Don’t you know what won-
derful people they are? The Grand Duchesses Xenia
and Olga, for instance, whom you dare to accuse pub-
licly of such awful things, are real saints, and everybody
regards them as such! But if that means nothing to
you, how do you propose to fight them, single-handed?

[245]

IN THE NICK OF TIME

You think they have lost all power? Well, you are
very much mistaken! As far as Anastasia's case is con-
cerned, they have the full backing of King George I
Do you propose to fight him too?”

‘When I see someone being injured in broad day-
light I call the police, no matter who the attackers
happen to be," I said. “And I don’t care if all the
kings in the world are mixed up in the mess. All I
want is to have the whole matter decided by a court of
law; and laws are the same for everybody, kings
included."

"In theory, maybe,” Leeds observed. “But Xenia is
right — you cannot fight the whole Imperial Family,
single-handed. They do have power. It is also likely
that the King wants Anastasia’s aunts to inherit that
money because he is bred of supporting them and
all their Russian hangers-on. Ano^tfier thing — you do
not know Royalty as well as I do,*4hd Jet me tell you
I’ve found it includes the damndesVbunch of crooks I
ever saw ...” ^ y

The last words had hardly escaped Leeds’ lips when
we froze in different attitudes of complete bewilder-
ment. Xenia’s face turned livid and, had it been pos-
sible to kill a person by merely looking at him, poor
Leeds would have perished then and there under his
wife’s gaze. The moment he recovered sufficiently
from the shock he himself had caused Leeds laid down
his glass and hastened out of the room.

Left in an embarrassing ///e-d-Ze/e Xenia and Tsfared
at each other in painful confusion. Suddenly her chin
began to tremble and her eyes filled with tears.

"It is terriblel terrible!" she panted. "You do not

[246]

IN THE NICK OF TIME

realise yourself rvhat mischief you have done. You
must undo it . , . you must . .

But she could no longer control herself, covered her
face with her handkerchief and ran out of the room,
sobbing. r

I remained in solitude and just as I began to wonder
what I was supposed to do, Leeds stole back into the
room, smiling rather apologetically.

“Ugh 1” he sighed. “Have a drink? I think we both
need it.”

I accepted with pleasure. For a while we talked of
unrelated matters, then Leeds said :

“Look here, this way we are never going to get any-
where. Would you be willing to come some evening
soon and talk matters over quietly with me and my
lavryer?”

I assured him that I would be delighted to do so.

The proposed meeting took place a day or two later
and resulted in a peaceful and orderly discussion of the
situation.

Leeds’ main worVy appeared to be the danger of
finding himself charged with active participation in
an attempt to defraud Anastasia. He reiterated his
apologies for the interception of my letter to the Grand
Duchess and, in spite of the storm over my legal notice,
assured me that he was by no means convinced as to the
presence of any money in the Bank of England. On my
part, I tried to make him understand that nobody
dreamed of eharging him with anything.

As for the future, it appeared that we had reached a
deadlock. Leeds told me that there was not the slight-
est chance of achieving a compromise between Anas-

[247]

IN Tin: NICK or time

nsia nnd her aunts He said that he fully understood
the position I had taken and being as convinced of
Anastasia’s idcntitj as I wis m>«clf — an> body doubling
It “must be crazj,” he declared — would have been glad
to help me, were it not for the situation in his family
More than that, he had to aaarn me that were Anastasia
to <tart any legal action she would ha\c to leave 0>sicr
Ba>

I cvpiained to Leeds that for the present I did not
propose c\cn to write to Anastasia, let alone try to have
her start anj legal action Now that I knew her for
tunc securely tied up, I «aw no reason for haste If
was m> plan to do nothing until the return from
abroad of RachmaninofT and Miss Jennings — the only
two persons of mj acquaintance likely to olTcr Anas
tasia financial assistance Haaing left this countrj
only rccentlj neither RachmaninofT nor Miss Jennings
were expected to come back for scacral months In the
meantime, it would be useless on my part to upset Anas
tasia, for she certainly could not start a litigation with
out first obtaining the necessary money

We parted cordially, having promised to notify each
other of any new dc\clopmcnt should one occur

But I did not expect anything to happen for quite
some time and avas, therefore, extremely astonished
when on July 31st Princess Xenia called me up on the
telephone and said

“Anastasia wants to sec you Can you come to
morrow afternoon?”

I went, of course, and aaas met by Princess Xenia
who took me first to her drawing room and began to
[248]

IN THE NICK OF TIME

assure me that it was she herself who had induced An-
astasia to invite me.

“It is bad for her to he always angry at somebody,”
Xenia said with charming naivete, “I have been trying
to convince her all the time that she should forgivg her
enemies, and I am glad to see that my sermons begin
to take effect.”

She told me further that Anastasia had not sum-
moned me for the purpose of discussing her affairs.

“Of course, I cannot prevent you from discussing
them,” Xenia added, "but I must warn you that if you
convert her to your point of view you will have to find
some other place for her.”

I repeated to the Princess what I had already said to
her husband.

“You can see yourself,” I concluded, “that I have not
the slightest reason for discussing her affairs with the
Grand Duchess just now. And I certainly would not
know where to find another place for her. My own
house is very modest, barely furnished and full of noisy
children. Nor do I know from month to month
whether I shall be able to keep it. I am most anxious,
therefore, for Anastasia Nikolaevna to remain here at
least for another few months.”

“V ery well, then," Xenia said. “You may go to Anas-
tssis's toanr. I sm not going mth you. Bat I shall be
waiting for you here, because I want to know how she
receives you.”

I also wanted to know how the Grand Duchess was
going to receive me and what had prompted her to
summon me. It was not without some nervousness that
I knocked at her door.

[249]

IN THE NICK OF TIME

“Come ini” Anastasia called.

I opened the door and saw her standing in the middle
of the room, looking even more nervous than I was
myself.

“I am so happy to see Your Imperial Highness
again,” I said.

She smiled timidly, gave me her hand to kiss and
after some hesitation said:

“I have received a letter from Europe which an-
noyed me very much. Will you please read it and tell
me what you think of it”

The letter proved to be from one Felix Dassel, a
former Russian officer who during the war had stayed
for a while in the hospital of which Anastasia was a
patroness. Dassel had visited the Grand Duchess in
Seeon, in September 1927, recognised her and pub-
lished several articles about her in German newspapers.

Now Dassel wrote to Anastasia that his open ac-
knowledgment of her had caused him many un-
pleasantnesses, that passing through the territory of
Hessen-Darmstadt he had been put in jail and in con-
sequence lost his job and was now in very difficult
circumstances.

I told the Grand Duchess that while everything Das-
sel wrote was, no doubt, true, I did not regard it as
proper for him to bother her. She answered that the
question was not whether Dassel should have written
in that manner, but whether the Grand Duke of Hessen-
had any right to arrest psopie ior the only
reason that they had acknowledged her.

“I am beginning to think that the only way for me
to stop that persecution of myself and my friends is by
[250]

IN THE NICK OF TIME

going to court,” Anastasia said. “All rights and justice
have been denied me long enough.” She paused, then
asked. “And what about the money in the Bank of
England? Has anything been done to prevent my aunts
from getting it? This is already the first of August and
they were to get it in July.”

I was quite taken aback by this unexpected turn of
our conversation.

“I am happy to report,” I answered, “that your aunts
have been prevented from obtaining your money.”

Anastasia’s face lighted with a happy and astonished
smile. “By whom?” she asked.

“By me," I said.

“By you?” she e.xclaimed. “But Xenia told me that
you had turned against mel I asked her several times
to invite you, but she said that you refused to have any-
thing to do with me — that you had beeomc my enemy 1”
I could not conceal my indignation. “This is really
too much!” I exclaimed. “But how could you have
believed her? And to think that all the while I was
trying to get in touch with you Xenia kept telling me
that you hated me and would never agree to receive
mel”

“How did she darel How could shel” Anastasia ex-
claimed in her turn.

In spite of my anger I was unable not to see the
humour of the situation and began to laugh. “This is a
perfect farce,” I said. “And now that everything has
ended so happily— your money is safe and we can see
each other again — let us not spoil our blood with anger.
Now the whole thing seems really quite funny to me.’’

Anastasia was not the person to resist laughter and

[251 ]

IN THE NICK OF TIME

having begun to laugh, she forgot both her anger and
her nervousness At once she became her charming
and lovable self She wanted, however, to know every
thing that had happened since our enforced separation
and I made a detailed report to her, ending with the
conversation I had just had with Xenia
The Grand Duchess listened to me attentively, inter
rupting me from time to time witli some indignant
exclamation or comment, and when I finished asked
"What do you advise me to do?"

"Nothing for the present,” I said “The trouble is
that there is nothing you can do until jou have the
money to start the litigation Let us wait until Rach
maninoff and Miss Jennings return from Europe”
Anastasia did not seem very enthusiastic about m>
advice, but admitted its wisdom and agreed to follow it
"I only regret that it is obviously no longer possible
for us to be frank with Xema,” I said "But in view
of all the tricks she has plajed on us, I think vve have
the moral right to tell her nothing of jour plans, at
least for the present ”

"Of course, wc ought not to tell her anjthingl ’ An
astasia exclaimed

"She IS waiting for me downstairs, jou know I said
"I shall tell her that wc had just a pleasant and quite
inconsequential chat about nothing”

"Ccrtainlj I shall tell her tlic same thing,” Anas
tasia said

“And now I had better go so as not to arou'c Xenia’s
suspicions by stajing too long,” I said "If I maj, I
shall call on Your Imperial Highness again lo a week
[eja]

IN THE NICK OF TIME

or so; and in the meantime do not be nervous and please
do not quarrel with Xenia.”

“I have already quarrelled with her,” Anastasia
smiled naughtily. “It was only because I did quarrel
with her that she finally agreed to let me see you.”

“But that was not a serious quarrel,” I said, “and you
can make up with her easily. Xenia seems only too
anxious to keep you here, if only for the reason that as
long as you are here you cannot begin your litigation.
I realise that it will be difiicult for you to be nice to
her, but after all you are still enjoying her hospitality
and at least ought to treat her politely while you remain
in her house.”

“You are right, of course,” Anastasia agreed. “I
will not quarrel with her, but do come to see me again
as soon as you can.”

On that we parted, Anastasia now looking quite
calm, almost cheerful. Downstairs Princess Xenia
awaited me.

■'Well, how did she receive you?” she asked.

“Oh, quite nicely,” I said.

“What did you talk about?”

“Of nothing in particular— the weather, the parra-
keets . . . ,” I improvised.

Xenia cast at me a questioning look which made me
think that I was not a very successful liar.

“She has been rather restless of late,” Xenia ob-
served, continuing to watch me attentively. “We even
had a little quarrel.”

“I am sorry to hear that." I said. “But the Grand
Duchess seems in a rather good mood now. I do hope
she will not quarrel with you again.”

IN THE NICK OE TIME

I returned home, very pleased to have at last seen
Anastasia and received her whole-hearted approval of
all my actions on her behalf. In general, it seemed to
me, the situation was gradually clearing up. The whole
plan of Anastasia’s aunts had failed miserably; so
had Princess Xenia’s plans. Now one could hope
again that everything was going to end well. I felt
pretty certain that both Rachmaninoff and Miss
Jennings would be glad to help the Grand Duchess
personally and thus enable her to leave the Leeds.
Whether they would finance her Vitigation was a ques-
tion, but there had to be some way of finding money
for a litigation which in case of victory would give
Anastasia a fortune. And in the meantime everybody
could live in peace, provided, of course, that the Grand
Duchess would refrain from further quarrels with
Xenia.

That latter hope was shattered soon enough. It was
on the following day that Xenia called me up again
and said:

“Anastasia really must be crazy: she wants to see
you to-morrow I Can you come?”

I sighed, but promised to come.

Once more I was met by Xenia. But this time she
looked so troubled that I felt sorry for her.

“I don’t know what is the matter with Anastasia, ’
she said. “But she no longer seems to trust me and
keeps quarrelling with me all the time. I should not
be surprised if she starts discussing her affairs with
you, and I must repeat that if she decides to establish
her identity and obtain her money through the courts,
she must leave this house. Tell her that!”

[254]

IN THE NICK or TIME

I e\pected to find the Grand Duchess in a very bad
mood, but she greeted me quite cheerfully, if a little
guiltily

“I know, I haven’t kept my word, but I couldn’t,”
she said the moment I attempted to reproach her for
quarrelling with Xenia “Last time I didn’t tell you
even a small part of my own experiences with Xenia
I really cannot understand how such a young woman
can be so false Do you know, for instance, that on the
i8th of July she was sitting here in my room, kneeling
before me, kissing me and assuring me with tears m
her eyes that I had nothing to worry about, that she
would do everything for me, obtain my recognition
and never allow my aunts to inherit my money? On
the i8th of July — the very day on which she had made
such a scene before you because you had saved my
mone> from my aunts 1 How do you want me to be
nice to such a person? You know, I can never pretend ”
Yes, I knew that Anastasia, accused by her enemies
and suspected by so many of being a crafty impostor
cleverly playing the role of a Grand Duchess, could
never play any role, could never hide a single one of
her thoughts or emotions She had always been like
that “I hate sneaks,” she had told me once m her
childhood She did hate sneaks, had never been de-
ceitful herself and never could be a sneak Nor was I
myself particularly good at it, or even as a diplomat, I
feared I had to admit that it had been an altogether
foolish idea on my part that such a pair as Grand
Duchess Anastasia and I could successfully compete
with Princess Xenia

But what was I to do with the Grand Duchess? Take

[255]

IN THE NICK OF TIME

her to my own house with all its nojse and Jack of
comfort and curious neighbours? How would she feel
in such surroundings after all the luxury of Oyster
Bay? How was I going to take proper care of her, buy
her the right kind of food, pay for such medical serv-
ices as she might require? On top of this was the
problem of her personal safety. My house was quite
unprotected and my address known to everybody.

“I can see that it is impossible for you to remain
here much longer,” I said, after telling Anastasia of all
my misgivings “But could you not try and live in
peace with Xenia, if only for another two or three
weeks? You needn’t worry — I will not leave you un-
protected, no matter when you leave Oyster Bay, but I
want you to be properly taken care of and shall im
mediately ask Rachmaninoffs personal secretary to get
m touch with him I am sure he will come to your aid,
but It might take two or three weeks to get an answer
from him ”

“All right,” the Grand Duchess said “I will do my
best not to quarrel, but do hurry with your prepara-
tions and take me away from here as soon as you pos
sibly can With all I now know I do not even feel safe
in this house ”

“You oughtn’t to start exaggerating things m this
manner,” I admonished her. "You are quite safe per-
sonally Xenia may not have been fair but I stiJl
think that she is sincerely fond of you It is simply
that she got mixed up with your aunts and now ap-
parently doesn’t know which way to turn ”

“Still, I shall be terribly neraous as long as I have to
remain here,” Anastasia said.

[256]

IN THE NICK OF TIME

“You needn’t be nervous, because I am watching
over you,” I assured her. “But do try to be a little
more patient.”

“I will try,” Anastasia said. But this time I felt
pretty certain that her efforts were not likely to prove
successful.

On my way out of the house I was again stopped by'
Xenia.

“What’s going on? What did she say? Why did she
lose confidence in me?” she began to question me ex-
citedly.

I stared at her, puzzled. Xenia asking me why An-
astasia had lost confidence in herl Why, indeed? I
could no longer lie to her, but was equally unable to
tell her the truth.

“The situation is obviously a very painful one," I
said. “But I regret that I cannot discuss it right now
with Your Highness. All I can say is that the Grand
Duchess has promised me to try not to quarrel with you
any more.”

“Before leaving could you go down to the boat house
where my husband is waiting for you?” Xenia asked.

To the boat house I went and found Leeds there
with a bottle in front of him. “Have a drink,” he said,
I nodded, and we quickly established an atmosphere of

the situation in the Bank of England and reiterated his
assurances that he quite understood my point of view
and was sorry to be unable to help me. Then with a
deep sigh he said:

“This is certainly a pretty kettle of fish.”

To this I agreed.

[257]

IN THE NICK OF TIME

“The trouble is,” Leeds went on, “that I only tried
to be of help to everybody, but all I get in return is
kicks on both shins. I really don’t know what to do.
You mustn’t think that I am not interested in safe-
guarding Anastasia’s rights. I really have come to be
very fond of her. She is a most charming person; that
is, until she starts quarrelling with Xenia. Not that
Xenia is any more pleasant when she quarrels. The
two are quite obviously cousins. You cannot imagine
what has been going on here for the last two days. I
am thinking of spreading nets on the tree tops around
the house to prevent our ladies from killing themselves
when they start jumping out of the windows.”

“I believe I can pretty well imagine your difficulties,
but my own situation is hardly better,” I said. “I wish
I could be of help to you, in some way, but there doesn’t
seem to be anything I can do.”

“Same here,” Leeds sighed. “Oh, what’s the use?
Let’s have anothcrl”

When I finally began to take leave of him Leeds
said;

“Still, your position is better than mine. You come
here, have all the fun of watching this circus, and then
go back to a peaceful home. But I have to stay here
with our charming ladies.”

“I am afraid I am no longer quite able to see the fun
in it,” I laughed. “But in the meantime Jet’s hope that
some peaceful solution will be found eventually.”

I T»t> longt*. h'i'i aViV yich vras I

at all astonished when on August 6th Leeds telephoned
me and asked me to come again to his boat house at 6
oVIock of the same day.

[ass 3

IN THE NICK OF TIME

“What now?” I wondered.

I reached the boat house at the time specified, but
found the place empty. I waited for a while and was
beginning to think of leaving when Princess Xenia
came in. She was quite surprised to see me.

“I didn*t know you were here,” she said.

“Your husband asked me to be here at six,” I ex-
plained.

“That’s funny,” she said. “And he asked me to be
here at six, but he did not tell me that he was expecting
you.”

We looked at each other, both equally puzzled, but
in a moment the telephone began to ring. It proved to
be Leeds, who engaged his wife in a lengthy conver-
sation.

“He apologises for not being able to come,” Xenia
said, hanging up the receiver, “And he wants me to
talk to you in his place. The situation has become
quite intolerable. Anastasia and I can no longer re-
main under one roof. You will have to take care of
her, because you seem to be the only person she trusts.
But we want to repeat our offer: Take Anastasia to
some secluded spot in Europe and give up the struggle
for her formal recognition. If you will do so, we shall
support Anastasia for life and gladly pay all your ex-
penses. Otherwise, you must take her away from here
within forty-eight hoursl”

Poor Xenia looked so tired and miserable that I
could no longer feel the slightest anger against her.
Indeed, I wanted nothing so much as to put her head
on my shoulder and let her cry like the offended little
child she seemed at the moment.

[2S9]

IN THE NICK OF TIME

It was, therefore, without a trace of anger or bitter-
ness that I explained to Xenia the complete impossi-
bility of my even contemplating her offer. Under no
circumstances would I personally have anything to do
with any such arrangement As to Anastasia’s own
choice in the matter, she alone should make it And
were she to reject Xenia’s ultimatum — as I felt pretty
certain that she would — it would become my duty to
care for her, although I had no idea how I could do it

Xenia began to argue and for a while grew once
more quite excited.

“You cannot imagine what harm you have done!”
she said to me. “Had you not interfered, Anastasia’s
aunts would have obtained the money without any fuss
and thereafter would have looked after Anastasia for
the rest of her days, because they are not at all the mon-
sters you seem to imagine them, but very kind-hearted
women. Everything was going so well, my correspond-
ence with Grand Duchess Xenia was of the friend-
liest nature, and then you had to come with your legal
notice and in one day ruin my work of six months."

I listened, incredulous. Here she was, that Byzan-
tine Princess, suddenly acknowledging with childish
naivete what to anyone else would be plain duplicity
— nay, boasting about it, reproaching me for having in-
terfered with the success of her clandestine operations.
And now I wondered whether such a woman could
actually be accused of duplicity? Certainly she was
not in the least aware of having done anything wrong.

In fact, she was beatifically certain of having been
completely right and correct in all her actions. How
[260]

IN THE NICK OF TIME

could such a paradoxical person be classified? To me
in one way only — she was a Romanov.

And now that she no longer pretended not to have
maintained any correspondence with Anastasia's aunts,
I said to her:

“But do tell me this: you are completely convinced
of Anastasia’s identity; you have had all along such a
friendly correspondence with Grand Duchess Xenia;
you are constantly visited by two of Grand Duchess
Xenia's sons. How can it be then that Grand Duchess
Xenia will not admit at least the possibility that An-
astasia is indeed her niece?’’

“Of course, she fully admits itl” Xenia exclaimed.
“She doesn’t merely admit it — she knows it!”

“And knowing Anastasia to be her niece,” I went on,
“Grand Duchess Xenia tries, nevertheless, to inherit
Anastasia’s money. How, then, can you maintain that
she is such a good person?”

“Not a good person?” Xenia flared up. “If the Im-
perial Family has decided that Grand Duchess An-
astasia is not fit to be formally acknowledged and be
given all that money, and that it is Grand Duchess
Xeiiia who should inherit it, what is there unfair
about Xenia’s actions? Who has the right to question
the decision of the Imperial Family?”

“And should Anastasia go to court, her relatives who
know her to be Anastasia, will testify that she is an
impostor?”

“Naturally!” Princess Xenia said.

Yes, it was quite natural, I reflected. Who, indeed
bad the right to question the decisions of the Imperial
Family? Had they not ruled Russia for 300 years and

[261]

IN THE NICK OF TIME

in the course of those 300 years taken and enforced
many a decision as lofty ethically as their present deci*
sion to disown Grand Duchess Anastasia? Were they
never ashamed of their own ruthlessness, their greed?
Of course not. On the contrary they deemed them-
selves saints. They never did anything from selfish
motives. It was of the welfare of their beloved Rus-
sian people that they always thought. Had not Prin-
cess Xenia herself told me, during our first quarrel, that
in the opinion of the Imperial Family Anastasia, for-
mally acknowledged and given her money, would be
likely to become the Empress of Russia; and that they
did not regard her as fit to rule?

How was Anastasia going to become the Empress of
Russia? But how was Grand Duke Cyril going to be-
come Emperor of Russia? How was Grand Duke
Nicholas going to become Dictator of Russia? That
little question “how?” never seemed to interest them.
They just took it for granted that one of them was go-
ing t6 become the ruler of Russia. The only problem
was which of them was most fit to rule.

Even on that problem they never seemed able to
reach a unanimous decision. But once in a while they
did decide that one or another of the candidates was
not fit to rule. Thus Anastasia was not fit to rule be-
cause she was angry at the rest of them and promised
to hang them all. And, of course, their beloved Rus-
sian people would suffer agonies watching them being
hanged. And, therefore — not because they really
wanted their money, nor yet objected to being hanged,
no, not at all, but only because of their great love for
the Russian people — Anastasia had to be denounced as
[ 262 ]

IN THE NICK OF TIME

an impostor, persecuted, prevented from securing her
fortune . . .

What a nightmarish phantasmagoria all this was I
Yet, to Princess Xenia, and no doubt to all her rela-
tives, that delirious nonsense was reality and people
like myself, who dared to question the decisions of the
Imperial Family, incomprehensible and dreadful crea-
tures.

“All I can do,” I finally said to Xenia, “is to transmit
your ultimatum to Grand Duchess Anastasia and, if
she rejects it, come for her in forty-eight hours.”

“Very well,” Xenia agreed. “You may go and talk
to her now.”

She did not follow me to the house, but took leave of
me in the garden. We parted sorrowfully, yet ami-
ably. Xenia even tried to smile and told me how glad
she was to have learned from Mrs. Derfelden that I
was going to have a novel published.

My conversation with Grand Duchess Anastasia
proved a short one. As soon as she heard Xenia’s ulti-
matum, she straightened herself and said:

“Please be here in forty-eight hours.”

I told her that the safest place I could take her
was the apartment in the city of my friend, John R.
Colter, who was deeply and sincerely devoted to her and
jKOiOd .naJhiu- Ale Jef the .hajm .Txswa? iSs*

her. The only trouble was that Colter’s financial cir-
cumstances were hardly better than my own and he
lived with his wife in a very modest studio apartment
on Lexington Avenue.

“Don’t worry about that,” Anastasia said. “Where
have I not lived since my escape from Russia? As

[2^3]

IN THE NICK OF TIME

long as I am among friends ^vhom I can trust I shall
feel comfortable anj'\vhcrc Only take me away from
here!”

Had she been an impostor, I mused, Anastasia could
well be said to Invc achieved a unique success After
fighting her desperately for jears, the sisters of the
Emperor had at last acknowledged their defeat and
were begging for peace, offering her a pension for life
if she would only refrain from pressing her claims
Could any impostor have wanted more than to be sup-
ported for life bj the Imperial Family?

But then Grand Duchess Anastasia did not happen
to be an impostor, and without a moment’s thought re
jected that offer with indignation She was leaving,
penniless, the lu%ury of a millionaire’s home, the pro
tection of an Imperial Princess, and facing fearlessly
an unknown future, because she could not, under any
circumstances be untrue to herself and deny her own
identity

And, knowing her as I did, I knew also that she was
determined to preserve her own identity, not because it
happened to be associated with an exalted title and the
right to a large fortune, but simply because it was her
own identity Anastasia was what she was and would
never agree to pretend that she was anything but her
own self That she happened to be also a Grand
Duchess was but an accident of fate She would have
acted no differently had she been born not in an Emper-
ork prface &atni a peinranCk/raXt

[264]

XI

LEAFING XENIA

J OHN R. Colter, to whose apartment I had decided
to take Grand Duchess Anastasia, was the former
acting general manager of the syndicate which had
published my articles about the Grand Duchess. An
old and trusted friend of mine, he had always been ex-
tremely interested in the case. Had he been allowed
to start the newspaper campaign he had planned, the
struggle for Anastasia’s formal recognition would, un-
doubtedly, have proved much more successful. The
unwillingness on the part of the owners of the syndicate
to back John Colter in his plans on Anastasia’s behalf
was one of the reasons why he had resigned his post.
His article on Anastasia, published, if I remember cor-
rectly, in the Nation, was by far the best and most
convincing article on the subject ever to appear in
print.

John Colter’s second wife, Ann Nooney, was an art-
ist, a woman of unusual intelligence and as devoted to
Anastasia as John was himself. The attitude of the
Colters towards the Grand Duchess was the more
touching because they had never seen her, and had em-
braced her cause, moved solely by a passion for justice.

I knew, therefore, that with the Colters Anastasia
would be utterly safe and given all possible attention.
The only trouble was that they were very poor; also
their small apartment on Lexington Avenue, in the fif-

[26j]

IN THE NICK OF TIME

long as I am among friends whom I can trust I shall
feel comfortable anywhere. Only take me away from
herd”

Had she been an impostor, I mused, Anastasia could
well be said to have achieved a unique success. After
fighting her desperately for years, the sisters of the
Emperor had at last acknowledged their defeat and
were begging for peace, offering her a pension for life
if she would only refrain from pressing her claims.
Could any impostor have wanted more than to be sup-
ported for life by the Imperial Family?

But then Grand Duchess Anastasia did not happen
to be an impostor, and without a moment’s thought re-
jected that offer with indignation. She was leaving,
penniless, the Iu.\ury of a millionaire’s home, the pro-
tection of an Imperial Princess, and facing fearlessly
an unknown future, because she could not, under any
circumstances be untrue to herself and deny her own
identity.

And, knowing her as I did, I knew also that she was
determined to preserve her own identity, not because it
happened to be associated with an exalted title and the
right to a large fortune, but simply because it was her
own identity. Anastasia was what she was and would
never agree to pretend that she was anything but her
own self. That she happened to be also a Grand
Duchess was but an accident of fate. She would have
acted no differently had she been born not in an Emper-
or’s palace but in a peasant’s hut

[264]

XI

LEAFING XENIA

J OHN R. Colter, to whose apartment I had decided
to take Grand Duchess Anastasia, was the former
acting general manager of the syndicate which had
published my articles about the Grand Duchess. An
old and trusted friend of mine, be had always been ex-
tremely interested in the case. Had he been allowed
to start the newspaper campaign he had planned, the
struggle for Anastasia’s formal recognition would, un-
doubtedly, have proved much mote successful. The
unwillingness on the part of the owners of the syndicate
to back John Colter in his plans on Anastasia’s behalf
was one of the reasons why he had resigned his post.
His article on Anastasia, published, if I remember cor-
rectly, in the Nation, was by far the best and most
convincing article on the subject ever to appear in
print.

John Colter’s second wife, Ann Nooney, was an art-
ist, a woman of unusual intelligence and as devoted to
Anastasia as John was himself. The attitude of the
Colters towards the Grand Duchess was the more
touching because they had never seen her, and had em-
braced her cause, moved solely by a passion for justice.

I knew, therefore, that with the Colters Anastasia
would be utterly safe and given all possible attention.
The only trouble was that they were very poor ■ also
their small apartment on Lexington Avenue, in the fif-

[265]

LEAVING XENIA

ties, was by no means an ideal place at the height of the
August heat.

Neither the Colters nor I having a car, or knowing
how to drive one, I appealed to Mr. Fallows who very
kindly volunteered to transport the Grand Duchess
from Oyster Bay to the city. On the morning of Au-
gust 8th I telephoned Princess Xenia that I expected to
reach Oyster Bay about i o’clock.

When we arrived, Mr. Fallows remained in the car
and I went into the house alone. Much to my astonish-
ment, Princess Xenia began to insist that I should, first
of all, eat, although she herself had already finished her
luncheon. I ^vent out to tell Mr. Fallows that my visit
would apparently last for some time and he decided to
drive away and return about 3 o’clock.

Princess Xenia took me to the dining-room where
luncheon for me alone had already been served, I felt
extremely touched by such solicitude. Xenia seated
herself at the table and engaged me in friendliest con-
versation. And while we talked I kept wondering why
Xenia and I ever had to quarrel, why we could not al-
ways be so friendly? Could she not understand that I
had always wanted to help and protect her as loyally as
Grand Duchess Anastasia herself? Even her unwill-
ingness to take any part in the struggle for Anastasia s
rehabilitation did not necessarily have to cause any en-
mity between us. Nothing more would Xenia have had
to do than be honest and truthful with me and tell me
frankly what her position was and how far she could go
in assisting the Grand Duchess.

About 3 o’clock Mr. Fallows drove up to the house
and I told Xenia that it was time for me to take the
[266]

LEAFING XENIA

Grand Duchess to the city. She astonished me by say-
ing:

“Go and talk to her first Perhaps she has changed
her mind and would rather go abroad on the terms I
have offered.”

I agreed, but first went out to the porch to ask Mr.
Fallows to wait for me a little longer. Xenia followed
me. I introduced Mr, Fallows to her and she invited
him into the drawing-room. I went upstairs. When I
entered the Grand Duchess’s room I saw that she was
ready to leave immediately — her meagre belongings all
neatly packed and even her now famous parrakeets al-
ready locked up in their cage.

She asked me with some impatience why I had come
so late, when in the morning she had been given my
message that I expected to call on her at i o’clock. I
told her of the luncheon Xenia had so thoughtfully
served me and of my conversation with her, ending
with Xenia’s renewal of the offer to send her abroad.

“What shall I tell her?” I asked in conclusion,

“Tell her,” Anastasia said, her eyes flashing with
anger, “that I am leaving her house immediately!"

I went downstairs where I found Xenia and Mr.
Fallows engaged in what looked like a very amicable
conversation.

“What did she say?” Xenia exclaimed eagerly.

“The Grand Duchess has decided to leave immedi-
ately,” I reported.

Xenia’s face brightened with a happy smile and she
said: “Oh, then she did decide to go to Europe, after
all? I am so glad . . .”

[267]

LEAVING XENIA

“No, no,” I interrupted her. “The Grand Duchess
has decided to leave this house immediately.”

Xenia’s smile instantly vanished. Suddenly she burst
into tears and’ ran upstairs. I followed her at some dis-
tance. She ran into her room and locked the door after
her. Passing the door, I heard her sob.

All servants having disappeared as if by magic, I
took the Grand Duchess’s luggage to the car, then es-
corted the Grand Duchess herself. As we went out on
the front porch I saw Mr. Fallows talking in the gar-
den with Mr, Leeds. They noticed us and Mr. Leeds
hurried away, while Mr. Fallows came over to greet
Anastasia. We helped her into the car and drove off.

Something infinitely pathetic there was in that quiet
departure of the unfortunate Anastasia from the place
which I had hoped to see her leave only as an ac-
knowledged Grand Duchess. Now, she was abandon-
ing all hope of an early recognition by her Aunts, to
face anew a future unknown and frightening.

Xenia’s final outburst of grief had also affected me
deeply, even though I could not understand whether it
had been caused by a sudden return of her affections
for Anastasia, or, on the contrary her anger at the final
collapse of all her efforts. Be that as it may, I myself
felt on the verge of tears and, too, Mr. Fallows ap-
peared quite upset.

For a while we rode along in oppressive silence,
each ahsQrheo’ in thought. It was' Airaviftrsfa her-
self, who finally brought us out of our stupor by start-
ing some insignificant but pleasant conversation. After
a while she asked Mr. Fallows whether he would
[268]

LEAFING XENIA

mind driving a little faster. Mr. Fallows looked at
me questioningly. I nodded and began to laugh, be-
cause everybody who had ever taken Anastasia for a
drive in an automobile had gone through the same ex-
perience. So frail and sickly she' looked that every
person who drove her for the first time always started at
a snail’s pace, afraid to give her the slightest jolt or
scare. Nobody ever suspected. that Anastasia had al-
ways been and still remained a dare-devil at heart and
was, besides, like her father, the late Emperor, particu-
larly fond of speeding.

Because of the Emperor’s love for fast driving all
chauffeurs at the Imperial Court were trained to drive
at a fantastic speed and could never be induced to drive
slowly. My father, who disliked doing anything which
ordinary mortals tvere not allowed to do, always felt
terribly embarrassed when at the approach of our car
every policeman would first seize his notebook to write
down the license number and then, seeing the crown on
the plate, hide his book and stand at attention. Often
enough we returned from a ride to find some poor spar-
row or other small bird smashed against the radiator.

We children, having had none of father’s scruples
about annoying ordinary mortals, found it very amus-
ing to be always travelling at 6o and 70 miles an hour;
even so, I personally had never developed into the sort
of speed maniac Grand Duchess Anastasia was. To
her slow driving was simply unendurable.

And so she kept asking Mr. Fallows to drive faster
and faster, until we were making over 60 miles in
broad daylight, on the road to New York City. Natur-
ally, before long a motorcycled policeman gave chase

[269]

LEAVING XENIA

and Anastasia became terribly excited No doubt, it
was Xenia — she said — who had sent the police after us
I tried in \ im to convince her that Xenia, even though
a Princess of the Imperial Family, had no such powers
in the United States and that she, Anastasia, had herself
attracted upon us the attention of the police by insisting
on such speed

In the meantime Mr Fallows had stopped and
started negotiating with the policeman What Mr Fal
lows told him I do not know, but the policeman became
at once very polite and let us proceed, much to Anas
tasia's relief

We reached Colter’s apartment without further mis
adventures, although Anastasia had had to reconcile
herself to the observance of the speed limit

The Colters gave the Grand Duchess a touching re
ception and I was delighted to see that they made a very
good impression on her But when the problem of the
dinner arose wc discmercd that we had Jess than a dol
lar among us Even so Ann managed to contrive a
very presentable supper

In the meantime Grand Duchess Anastasia, now im
patient to start the legal fight for her recognition, began
to discuss the matter with Mr Fallows He too made
a very good impression on her and she wanted to retain
him at once Knowing, however, what a new outburst
of anger and accusations against everybody concerned
the of a lawyer by Anastasia would call forth.

I advised both her and Mr Fallows to submit the draft
of his retainer to Mr Leeds for approval Both agreed,
and Mr Leeds, in his turn, showed the retainer to his
lawyer The latter found the terms offered by Mr Fal
[270]

LEAFING XENIA

lows extremely fair, but suggested a few minor changes
to which Mr. Fallows also agreed at once. It was only
then that 1 advised the Grand Duchess to sign the re-
tainer, which she did.

At the time of its signing a curious incident took
place. Anastasia was in a very nervous mood on that
day.' While eager to start the legal fight for her re-
habilitation, she felt, nevertheless, that by so doing she
definitely put an end to every possibility of an ultimate
reconciliation with her family.

The retainer, naturally, had to be signed in English,
and it was hut very seldom that the Grand Duchesses in
their childhood and youth had to sign their names in
Latin characters. Since her rescue, Anastasia had, in
the course of years, written less than a dozen brief
notes and probably signed her name not many more
times than that. Now, before signing the retainer, she
suddenly turned to me and with despair in her voice
said in German:

“I am afraid I have forgotten how to sign my name
in Latin characters.”

“Oh, no, you haven’t,” I assured her. “You are sim-
ply nervous. Just relax a little and your signature will
come out all by itself, without any thought on your
part.”

She took my advice, calmed'down and swiftly wrote
“Anastas! . . .” then stopped, looked at me and asked :

“What is the last letter in my name in Latin charac-
ters? In Russian it ends with the letter ‘yah’ which
does not e-xist in the Latin alphabet.”

The Grand Duchess was quite right.

[271]

LEAVING XENIA

“In English your name ends simply with an ‘a,’”
I said

“Neverl” Anastasia exclaimed “Never did my
name, written m any characters, end with an ‘a’!”

“Of course it does — m English,” I said “What other
letter can your name end with, if notan ‘a’?”

“It does not end with an *a/” the Grand Duchess
said irritably “I am surprised that you do not e\en re
member how my name is spelled And now you get
me all mixed up and I can remember nothing morel”

I was quite upset by the whole performance which,
to make it worse, was taking place in the presence of
Mr Fallows and a Notary The two were eyeing us
suspiciously, unable to understand what we were saying
to each other, but realising, of course, that Anastasia
did not know how to sign her own name What food
for her enemies, what excellent subject for half a dozen
articles by the able M Gillard, I thought, exasperated

‘ Please,” I begged Anastasia, “put an ‘a* at the end
of your name, whether it is right or wrong These gen
tlemen are waiting, and you have to complete your
Signature in some way”

“I will not I” Anastasia retorted “My name does not
end with an ‘a ’ Let it stay as it is I”

And she handed the retainer to the Notary, while I
mumbled some embarrassed explanations that the
Grand Duchess was very nervous and for reasons to
me unknown refused to complete her signature Mr
Fallows and the Notary exchanged meaningful glances
but had to wimess the retainer with its absurd signature
“Anastasi ”

The thing baffled me completely How could the
[272]

LEAFING XENIA

name Anastasia end if not with an “a”? And whether
she agreed with it or not, why could not the Grand
Duchess have spared me — and herself — all that cm-
barassment and taken my word for it? And how, I
wondered, had she signed her name when she was in
Germany? The name “Anastasia" is spelled in Ger-
man in exactly the same way as in English. How else
could it be spelled in any language, except the Russian?

On the following day the Grand Duchess gave me
one of those mischievous smiles which presaged a long
siege of teasing, and said :

"Oh, what a clever person you are. There is nothing
you do not know, is there? And you have never been
wounded in the head, as I have. And so devoted you
are to me, yet you do not even know how to spell my
name. Fie on you.”

“But, of course, I know how to spell your name," I
protested, “I still insist . .

“Better don’t insist,” Anastasia interrupted me,
laughing. “Spelling my name with an ‘a’ at the endl
Aren’t you ashamed? Would you perhaps spell my
sister Marie’s name also with an *a’ at the end?”

Oh, Heavens, I thought, what a blunder I had com-
mitted! Yes, indeed — when signing their names in
Latin characters Marie and Anastasia had never writ-
ten “Maria” and “Anastasia” but always “Marie” and
“Anastasie.” Even so, I tried to defend myself.

“I must apologise,” I said. “You are quite right.
You did sign your name with an ‘e’ at the end, and it
was most stupid of me to have forgotten it. But I still
fail to see why you could not have signed that paper

[273]

LEAVING XENIA

yesterday in the English manner. After all, we are in
an English speaking country . .

“Oh, how silly,” Anastasia interrupted me again.
“Don’t you even know that the spelling of our names
in Latin characters had been officially established on
the basis of the French spelling, so that outside of Rus-
sia — no matter what country I am in — my name is
‘Anastasie’ and not 'Anastasia’?”

Yes, once more the Grand Duchess was perfectly
right, and I should have known — had known, in fact —
what she was now telling me, but had forgotten it.
Which, incidentally, offered an additional example of
the virtual impossibility of playing another person’s
role. Few people now living possessed as intimate a
knowledge of the Russian Court as I did. But, ob^
viously enough, I could not have impersonated a mem-
ber of the Sovereign’s family, without being proved an
impostor in ten minutes’ time.

According to M. Gillard, Grand Duchess Anastasia
had acquired her knowledge of the affairs of the Im-
perial Family from books. As a matter of fact, Anas-
tasia hardly had read as many as half a dozen books
from the very time of her rescue. But I had read hun-
dreds of them. Now I even remembered that I had in
my possession a book with a photograph of Anastasia
signed in French "Anastasic.” Yet I had completely
forgotten that her name could be spelled in that man-
ner.

Still further, ordinary mortaU always changed the
spelling, often the very pronunciation of their names in
accordance with (he language of the country they hap-
pened to be in. It was doncewn in passports. Thus,

[274]

LEAVING XENIA

my own wife’s first name according to the Russian text
of her passport was “Nadcjda/’ but according to the
French text of the same passport was “Nadine.” In
English she never knew which spelling, or rathcrwhich
name, to use, and among our American friends some
called her “Nadejda” and others “Nadine.” Where
would an impostor have found that rule that members
of the Imperial Family could spell their first names
according to the French spelling only? The very
thought of looking for any such rule would never have
entered an impostor’s mind.

A day or two after the Grand Duchess’s departure
from Oyster Bay the Richards offered to support
her for a month or six weeks. I was the more surprised
and touched because the Richards, like Rachmaninoff,
could never become quite convinced that “Mrs. Tschai-
kovsky” was actually Grand Duchess Anastasia. But
they felt that it was impossible to keep Anastasia in the
city during the August heat and offered to rent two
rooms for her in the Garden City Hotel which was a
quiet and comfortable place with a lovely garden and
located not far from my house in Hempstead.

The problem was, however, how to preserve the
secret of Anastasia’s identity and also obtain for me the
permission from the hotel’s management to visit Anas-
tasia in her room.

“Suppose we make her your sister,” Gus Richard
suggested. “And register her under some assumed and
inconspicuous name — Mrs. Anderson, let us say.”

It seemed an excellent idea. Better still, Hetty
Richard’s former governess, a delightful French

[275]

LEAVING XENIA

woman, Mmc. Schiver& by name, volunteered to stay
with Anastasia during the first tn*o or three weeks.

When I informed the Grand Duchess of the Rich-
ards’ offer she accepted it gratefully, and it was again
Mr. Fallows who drove us out to Garden City.

Anastasia was very much pleased with her new dom-
icile. Actually her rooms in the hotel were larger and
more comfortable than her room in Oyster Bay. She
was also vastly amused at her new status as m3' sister.
In fact, it resulted in a rather funny situation of which
neither the Richards nor I m^'self had thought at fint.
While in the normal course of events people treat each
other with greater formality in public than in private,
Anastasia and I were now forced to reverse ilte usual
practise: in public wc now found ourselves obliged to
call each other by our first names, for otherwise nobody
would have believed us to be brother and sister. More
than that, wc discovered that there were several Ger-
mans among the hotel’s employees, which m.ade it neccs-
sar>' for us, when Miking in German, to address each
other with the familiar "thou” instead of the formal
*tyou.”

In the meantime Princess Xenia began to displa)*, as
it seemed to me, genuine solicitude on Anast3«ia’s l>r-
hajh She asked me 10 keep in daily touch vvith her by
telephone, const.inlly enquired whether tltcrc was any-
thing she could do for the Grand Duchess and finally
began to urge me to viiii her some evening for a heart-
to-heart discussion of Anastaiia'i affairs, promising (>
be quite alone and refrain from quarreJhng.

I felt ver3' much tempted to accept Xenia's invita-
tion, and to this day am not certain that I should no?

1=7GJ

LEAVING XENIA

have done so. But Grand Duchess Anastasia was very
much against it and I myself was frankly afraid of such
a heart-to-heart discussion. In spite of everything I still
liked Xenia too much to feel at all certain that I would
not — as so often in the past — let myself be swayed ofl
the right course by some new promises on Xenia’s part.
It also annoyed me that she was now apparently trying
to convince me of her complete innocence and that
every time she spoke to me asked t

“But why has Anastasia lost confidence in me?”

Why, indeed?

Finally I wrote Xenia a letter, polite but frank. In
it I recalled' her statements that Anastasia did not want
either to establish her identity or obtain her fortune and
that on August ist she had summoned me with no
thought of discussing her affairs. In reality, I now
pointed out to Xenia, Anastasia had summoned me for
that very purpose and had done so for the reason that
a few days earlier Xenia had flatly refused to help her
in the struggle for her recognition.

“Since shortly before her arrival,” I wrote further,
“you promised the Grand Duchess, as well as' my-
self, that you would do everything in your power to
obtain her full and official recognition and, as Her Im-
perial Highness insists, you also promised to help her
by all means available to you to secure for her her for-
tune, the Grand Duchess was naturally equally shocked
and mystified by the sudden change in your attitude, a
change the more alarming for Her Imperial Highness
as it occurred at a time when, as it appears, unless some
steps were taken, her fortune was to be paid out to her
aunt, Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna.

[^ 77 ]

LEAFING XENIA

“This will also answer your question as to the reason
why the Grand Duchess, as you rightly guessed, lost
confidence in you.”

Princess Xenia never answered that letter, and the
very few messages I have received from her in subse-
quent years came to me only orally through Mrs. Der-
felden.

To this day Princess Xenia continues to maintain the
same enigmatic position tov/ards the case of Grand
Duchess Anastasia. She has remained completely
faithful to Anastasia to the extent that she continues
to state openly her conviction in regard to Anastasia’s
identity, and on a number of occasions has expressed
her willingness to testify to that conviction under oath.
As for the matter of Anastasia’s formal reinstatement
in her civil and proprietary rights, Princess Xenia has
never made her attitude towards the problem clear.
She also appears to have given different e.vpIanations of
her own part in the sad events of the summer of 1928,
but unfortunately not one of those explanations could
be accepted.

Having started to work on the present book and eager
to be completely fair to Princess Xenia, I wrote a letter
to Mrs. Derfclden, stating briefly the manner in which
I intended to describe the Princess’s role in Grand
Duchess Anastasia’s case. I asked Mrs. Derfelden to
show my letter to Xenia and stated that, if my interpre-
tation of her actions was in any way incorrect and she
had some different explanation to offer, I was only too
willing to give her side of the story, provided, of course,
it would be true and sincere.

But the only result of that demarche of mine ^vas an-

[ 278]

LZAVWG XENIA

other plunge into Byzantium. First, Mrs. Dcrfelden
told me that Princess Xenia did not object to the main
points of my account but denied that she had ever be-
lieved in the existence of any fortune in the Bank of
England, or promised to help Anastasia obtain it, or yet
admitted to me that Anastasia’s aunts were themselves
certain of Anastasia’s true identity. In' other words,
she did not object to the main points of my story, but at
the same time denied almost all. Mrs. Derfeldcn also
added that Xenia had given my letter to her lawyer,
asking him to advise her whether she should react to it
in any way or ignore it.

To my question as to what then in the Princess’s opin-
ion we had discussed, during our stormy session of July
land, and why she had been so angry at me for having
served a legal notice on the Bank of England, Xenia
gave no answer. But two weeks later Mrs, Dcrfelden
wrote me a note stating that Xenia had never read my
letter at all and had returned it to her unopened, but
wanted to see my manuscript before its publication.

Thus the painfully familiar muddle had started all
over again. At first the Princess had made her com-
ments on my letter, then sent it to her lasvyer, then an-
nounced that she had never even read it. It became
regrettably clear to me that to obtain from the Princess
any reasonable explanation of her activities in con-
nection with Grand Duchess Anastasia’s case re-
mains as impossible to-day as it was nine years ago.
As for Xenia’s wish to read my completed manuscript,
I, unformnately, will not have the time to submit it to
her, nor can I now see any sense in doing so.

It would seem, therefore, that the best I can do to

[279]

LEAFING XENIA

be entirely fair to Princess Xenia is to state that she
denies having ever offered to help Grand Duchess
Anastasia in the latter’s struggle for her rehabilitation;
that she does not believe in the presence of a fortune in
the Bank of England; that she had never told me that
the Grand Duchesses Xenia and Olga admit in private
the fact of Anastasia’s Identity.

What, under the circumstances, all our bitter debates
of the summer of 1928 were about, •where did all the
letters, memoranda and statements of the time come
from, remains for Princess Xenia to explain.

To be equally fair to Mrs. Derfelden, I must state
that she does not appear to remember even as little as
Princess Xenia does. Her present comment on the sit*
uatioa is that she had spent the whole summer of 1918
at the bedside of her sick daughter, Mrs. Auchincloss.
Of our conversations in June and July slie has not the
faintest recollection.

In short, that tragi-comedy of denials, refutations,
half-hearted admissions, strange lapses of memory, and
all the rest of the timidity and betrayal on the part
of Anastasia’s friends which became so apparent to me
on the very day of my arrival in Europe in 1927 con-
tinues to this day. Small wonder that the Grand
Duchess has not as yet won her rehabilitation. But
great wonder that her enemies, who arc as determined
and ruthless as her friends arc timid and vacillating,
have won nothing at all.

Os h ^ -4/Wv* aIV rusd

truth has a force of its own •which docs not depend on
the characteristics of its exponents.

E280I

XU

THE SIGNED STATEMENT

I N October 1928, the Empress Dowager Mane died.
It was a great blow to Grand Duchess Anastasia.
She had no such sentimental illusions about the
Empress Dowager as prevailed among Russian refu-
-4 gees who had all but developed a cult of the old lady.
Anastasia knew, for instance, that her mother, the late
Empress Alexandra, whom she loved to the point of
worship, had suffered a great deal from the almost open
hostility towards her of Empress Mane She also
felt hurt by the old Empress’s lack of interest in her
fate Nevertheless, she felt much affection and re-
spect for her grandmother and was more eager to see
her than any other of her relatives She also felt con-
vinced — and I myself fully shared her conviction — that
were she actually to meet her grandmother, the latter
would acknowledge her immediately.

Never openly hostile to Anastasia, the Empress Dow-
ager had tried, however, to ignore all reports about her
In the Empress’s belief, which through the years had
developed into a rather pathological fixed idea, the
Ekaterinburg massacre had never taken place and her
son with his whole family was still alive and would
reappear some day Thus, unlike other sceptics, the
Empress Dowager doubted Anastasia’s identity not be-
cause she thought it improbable that any member of
the Emperor’s family could have escaped from Ekater-

[ 2 ^ 1 ]

THE SIGNED STATEMENT

inburg, but, on the contrary, because of her conviction
that they all, including the Emperor himself, had es-
caped; whereas Grand Duchess Anastasia claimed that
she alone had been rescued.

In excusing herself from giving Anastasia’s case more
serious consideration, the Empress Dowager quoted the
reports of Baroness Buxhoeveden and Grand Duchess
Olga, who both denied Anastasia’s identity. At the same
time the Empress did not permit any official declara-
tion to the effect that Anastasia was an impostor, and
it was her own brother, Prince Waldemar of Denmark,
who had supported Anastasia for a considerable time.

Altogether, it seemed that the Empress Dowager was
simply afraid of being convinced of the fact that the
so-called Mrs. Tschaikovsky was actually her grand-
daughter and hence, that her son and other grand-
•children were all dead. But that the Empress would
indulge in any such intrigue as that engineered by her
two daughters, Xenia and Olga, or, for any reason
whatever, disown her granddaughter upon acquiring
an actual knowledge of her identity seemed impossible.

Be that as it may, Grand Duchess Anastasia had
dreamed for years of the day when she would penetrate
into her grandmother’s presence, confident — nay, cer-
tain — that all her trials would end right then. Now
that cherished hope was gone — her grandmother, the
Empress Dowager, was dead.

She said nothing, did not voice a single complaint.
But for days thereafter she remained extremely de-
pressed and I often surprised her sitting in a sort of
stupor, her eyes wet, her thoughts apparently far away.

Nor did wc have to wait Jong for the consequences
[282]

THE SIGNED STATEMENT

of Her Majesty’s death. Up to then the Grand Duch-
esses Xenia and Olga had denounced Grand Duchess
Anastasia only through their mouthpiece, Gillard. But
no sooner did the Empress Dowager breathe her last
than they issued a statement to the press, declaring An-
astasia an impostor.

That action on their part was the more revolting be-
cause it came without any provocation, not a word on
Anastasia’s case having appeared in print for two
months. Their statement must have been — and later
I was informed that it actually was — prepared long in
advance and held only for the day of the Empress’s
death, the latter having forbidden any such public at-
tack on Anastasia.

Incidentally, outside of Xenia’s immediate family,
only two of her first cousins had agreed to sign that
statement. Even Grand Duke Cyril had refused to sign
it. But Grand Duchess Xenia had six sons, so that her
statement appeared with eleven signatures, and in con-
sequence was accepted by the press and the public as
representing the opinion of the whole Imperial Family.

Finally, of the people who had signed the statement
only one — Grand Duchess Olga — had seen Grand
Duchess Anastasia. And Olga, the same Olga who in
ipay wrote to Grand Duchess Anastasia ; “I am send-
ing you my love, am thinking of you all the time. . . .
My thoughts are with you. . . . Am longing to see
you. . . . Don’t be anxious. You are not alone and we
shall not abandon you . . .” now had the temerity to
state to the press that she had found in “Mrs. Tschai-
kovsky” no resemblance to Grand Duchess Anastasia
in looks, voice or personality, adding;

THE SIGNED STATEMENT

“Of all my questions relating to former days, friends
or any intimacies, she could not answer one ”

Unfortunately, Grand Duchess Anastasia had an
swered at least one of Grand Duchess Olga’s questions
— the question as to the manner in which her fortune
could be found in the Bank of England!

So disgusted was I by the utter impudence of the
Grand Duchesses Xenia and Olga, that I wanted to ig
nore it completely Now that I hoped to see the whole
matter settled soon in a court of law, it seemed to me
that Anastasia’s enemies by such tactics were only heap
ing more red coals on their heads for the day of Anas
tasia’s legal rehabilitation Unfortunately, however, to
Ignore that statement proved impossible

A friend of mine who was very close to some of the
highest officials in Washington informed me privately
that, left unanswered, the statement of Grand Duchess
Xenia and her children had to be accepted by the
United States Government as true, and the United
States could not harbour impostors and would, there
fore, on the basis of Xenia’s statement deport Anasta
sia back to Germany

Moreover, there being no possibility of Anastasia’s
bringing a libel suit against her aunts in Europe, the
only thing that could be done \\as for me to issue a
counter statement strong enough to make it a grave
libel if untrue Should Grand Duchess Xenia bring a
libel suit against me, Washington would allow Anasta
sia to remain in this country for all the duration of the
litigation And should Xema fail to bring suit agimst
me, Washington would accept it as a confession on her
part that she knew my statement to be true and hence

[284]

THE SIGNED STATEMENT

knew her own accusations against Grand Duchess
Anastasia to be false.

After further deliberation it was decided that to de-
prive Grand Duchess Xenia of any excuse for not
having read my statement, as well as to make my ac-
cusations against her the more pointed, I should put it
in the form of a personal letter to her and, at tlic time
when she could be expected to receive it, make it public
through the Associated Press.

While I should have preferred not to write that
letter at all, once I did have to write it I found it im-
possible to restrain myself and poured into it all the
indignation and bitterness which had accumulated in
my heart against Grand Duchess Xenia. Neverthe-
less, when I showed the first draft to my friend he
added further to its sharpness to make certain that my
accusations, if untrue, would be criminally libelous. *
My letter was duly mailed and later published by
the Associated Press. We waited for an answer in
vain. When somewhat later Xenia’s husband, Grand
Duke Alexander, arrived in this country a delegation
of Russians went to ask him what he or his wife
planned to do to refute my accusations. Alexander
answered that he had already written a very stern letter
to my uncle, Peter.

Even some of his own admirers were unable to hide
their astonishment and disappointment. Alexander
could hardly have found a more ridiculous way of de-
fending his wife’s honour, for they knew that Uncle
Peter himself had always belonged to the camp of
Anastasia’s enemies and had quarrelled with me be-

[285]

THE SIGNED STATEMENT

cause of it. On my part I thought it a very good joke
on Uncle Peter.

My letter served its purpose. Not only did the
Washington authorities do nothing to deport Grand
Duchess Anastasia, but they subsequently granted
several extensions of her permit to remain in this
country; and she could have remained here till this
day had she chosen to do so.

As far as the general attitude towards the case was
concerned it was, of course, the Russians who were
most impressed by my letter, and not a few of them
began to question whether Grand Duchess Xenia could
be as innocent as they had thought if there was nothing
she could answer to my open accusation. But for me
personally that letter earned nothing but condemnation.

I was naturally unable to explain the situation which
had developed in Washington, for I myself had
learned about it only privately and through the per-
sonal kindness of Anastasia’s and my own well-wishers.
In the normal course of things Anastasia would simply
have been deported without being given the chance of
a public defence in the press. And because of their ig-
norance of the true situation many of my friends
thought that I had simply down off the handle and
shown a deplorable lack of restraint.

As usual, my own relatives in Europe were loudest
in their denunciations of me, and my own brother, in
spite of his complete belief in Anastasia’s identity,
wrote me a very insulting letter. Ultimately I found
myself deserted by all relatives and friends in Europe
and do not expect to hear from any of them again until
the day of Anastasia’s final rehabilitation. They will
[a86]

THE SIGNED STATEMENT

be all back on that day, with flowers, candies and as-
surances of their “profound respect and equal devo-
tion." That, however, is one consequence of Anastasia’s
recognition for which I feel no impatience.

Characteristic was Anastasia’s own reaction to my
letter to her aunt. As I had correctly guessed, Anasta-
sia shared fully the peculiar attitude of all her relatives
who were accustomed to make the worst accusations
against one another, yet expected all commoners to
treat all Royalty with utter deference and respect.
Had it not been for her knowledge of the exact circum-
stances and the realisation that my public rebuke to
her aunt was necessary for her own protection, Anasta-
sia would, undoubtedly, have been quite as horrified
as everybody else. As it was, she seemed hurt and in
her attitude towards me ready to forgive rather than
to approve.

At the same time she could not quite conceal a cer-
tain admiration she felt for my courage; she realised
only too well that it was not any sort of loyalty to her
aunts, but plain fear of them which made her other
supporters so timid in their fight against them.

Thus the whole incident, while painful to everybody
concerned, had, nevertheless, not only served its pur-
pose, but definitely convinced Grand Duchess Anasta-
sia that she actually could rely on my loyalty under
any circumstances.

I was also much pleased that Mr. Rachmaninoff
proved among the few who did not criticise me for my
letter to Grand Duchess Xenia. Indeed, he himself
appeared considerably impressed by it and soon after-
wards visited Xenia personally, in order to discover

[287]

THE SIGNED STATEMENT

whether she herself had anything to say in her own
defence.

Telling me later of his meeting with the old Grand
Duchess, Rachmaninoff said:

“I came to her not as an enemy but a friend. More-
over, I knew that she was quite eager to win me over
to her side. I was quite frank with her and told her
what I am always telling you, that it is equally difficult
for. me to believe Mrs. Tschaikovsky to be either
Grand Duchess Anastasia or an impostor. The whole
thing simply baffles me. But I also told Grand
Duchess Xenia that the friends of Mrs. Tschaikovsky
are basing their belief in her identity as Anastasia on a
tremendous quantity of very weighty evidence. Hav-
ing heard only one side, I now wanted to learn what
the other side had to say about the matter.

“But the only comment I was able to obtain from
Grand Duchess Xenia was; *I simply know that she
cannot be Anastasia.’ ‘But Your Impcri.al Highness,*

I said to her, ‘j'ou must have some definite reasons for
such conviction on your part. Mrs. Tschaikovsky’s
friends quote fact after fact after fact. Can’t you
give me at least one single concrete reason for your
assertion that she is not Anastasia?’ But Xenia kept
staring past me at the wall and repeating like a
wound-up mechanism: ‘I simply know that she is not
Anastasia.’ "

“What explanation,” I asked Mr. Rachmaninoff,
“do you give to that refusal on the part of Grand
Duchess Xenia to tell you of her reasons for denying
Anastasia’s identity?”

“Tlicrc can be only one explanation,” Mr. Rach-
[a8S]

THE SIGNED STATEMENT

manmoff said, shaking his head “It is just as >ou say —
Grand Duchess Xenia herself is convinced that Mrs
Tschaikovsky is Anastasia The strange part of it is
that I myself am still unable to believe it fully, but I
left Xenia with the impression that she is just as con-
vinced of the fact as you yourself are ”

The problem of Anastasia’s maintenance was solved
more easily than I had expected The Richards sup-
ported her for about six weeks and, in the meantime, I
had been able to get in touch with Mr. Rachmaninoff,
“who from abroad instructed his secretary to pay Anas-
tasia’s expenses for as long a time as she might remain
ivithout any other source of income My publishers,
whom I told that Anastasia planned to dictate her
memoirs to me, offered her a contract and a very sub-
stantial advance, m spite of my warnings that I had no
idea whether her memoirs would prove of any literary
merit

Unfortunately, my apprehensions were to be fully
justified Anastasia, who was one of the wittiest and
most brilliant conversationalists I had ever met, proved
also the dullest and most injudicious of authors Not
only the so called “undressing in public,” but any kind
of informality in print, appeared abhorrent to her In
consequence her dictations were void of any sentiment,
indeed, of any life

i^ar from trying to make the best of a dramatic situ-
ation, It was precisely every dramatic situation which
she reduced to a few dry paragraphs written in the
style of a Court calendar At the same time she would
allow neither ghost writing nor even plain editing.
Everything she dictated had to be written down with

[289]

THE SIGNED STATEMENT

stenographic accuracy and no argument could make
her agree to the slightest change.

Thus her memoirs, of which I took down some 30,000
words, turned out to be utterly valueless for purposes
of publication. Luckily my publishers took a most
charitable view of the situation and said that they had
been glad to be of help to Anastasia anyway.

Finally, late in the fall Miss Jennings returned from
abroad and not only undertook to pay all of Anasta-
sia’s expenses, but assured me that she would make the
Grand Duchess her only heiress.

But the financing of Anastasia^s legal expenses
proved much more difficult. Several people, including
Miss Jennings, did contribute some money, but the
total amount was far below the minimum necessary for
bringing suit against the Bank of England or the
Mendelsohn Bank in Berlin, in which latter there re-
mained some of the Emperor’s personal money.

I suggested the plan of starting with a libel suit
against any of the persons or publications which had
denounced Anastasia as an impostor. Such a suit
would cost little and afford a safe test of the legal
value of the evidence in our possession, for the burden
of proof would rest on the defendant. At the time,
however, none of the lawyers connected with the case
agreed with me and went on instead with their prepara-
tions to proceed against the banks, in the hope that the
necessary money would be raised eventually.

The task 0/ attending Craiid Duchess Assastassz per-
sonally, also, was not a simple one. It had its compen-
sations — very great ones. For when Anastasia felt well
it was a real joy to be with her, talk to her, indulge in
[290]

THE SIGNED STATEMENT

common reminiscences. In normal circumstances she
was also touchingly considerate and appreciative. But
when that devil of quarrelsomeness and suspiciousness
took possession of her she truly became a miniature
Ivan the Terrible— as Princess Xenia had nicknamed
her — and it required infinite patience and diplomacy
to bring her out of those spells of ill temper and moodi-
ness.

To blame her for succumbing to those spells was
hardly possible. Her own cousin, Princess Xenia,
could be quite as exasperating; and Anastasia had cer-
tainly a much better excuse for not being always able
to control her temper.

Indeed, I never ceased to marvel at the fact that her
dreadful experiences had not produced any obvious
psychosis in her. But she naturally could not help
having been affected by them to some extent. Often
a casual remark on her part revealed to me, in a sudden
flash, the immeasurable horror of her past and the con-
sequent nervous tension under which she continued to
live.

To give but one example, Anastasia’s room in Gar-
den City, being quite large, contained two beds, one of
which stood by the wall and another at some distance,
parallel to it Noticing that in the daytime the Grand
Duchess always rested on the bed by the wall, I asked
her whether she did not want to have the other bed
removed.

“Oh, no,” she said, “at night I always sleep in the
other bed.”

“Why?” I asked.

She hesitated, then said: “It will sound silly to you,

[291 ]

THE SIGNED STATEMENT

but I can never believe m>^elf to be entirely out of
danger. I prefer to lie by the wall, and when you or
somebody else is with me, am not afraid to do so. But
when alone I am afraid, for should somebody come to
kill me I should be trapped. From a bed which docs
not stand alongside a wall I always can hope to roll
off and hide under.”

In what state would be the ner\'cs of any person who
could never retire for rest without tlic haunting fear of
being attacked by a murderer during the night?

Nor could it be said that the Grand Duchess was
suffering from anything like a persecution mania and
could be gradually reafoned out of such fears. She
was, on the contrar)', astonishingly brave, never afraid
of going anj^vhere or meeting anybody, never emotion-
ally suspicious of some larking danger or inclined to
sec enmity towards her where none existed. It was
simply her full realisation of how many people were
eager to sec her dead, her recollection of the attempts
to shoot and kidnap and poison her which had caused
her to be always on her guard.

I tried my best not to allow the Grand Duchess to
dwell on the past, but, as Princess Xenia had said, once
she began to talk, it was impossible to stop her. Even
so, I had never expected to hear her talk of the dread-
ful night of July 17th, but begin to speak of it she did
once. As in the case of Mrs. von Rathlef who, as far
as I know, had made the first written record of the
Grand Duchess’s account of that night, it was a refer-
ence to embroidery which caused Anastasia to speak
of it.

[292]

THE SIGNED STATEMENT

One evening, during some inconsequential discussion
of embroidery, Anastasia*s face suddenly acquired an
expression of utter misery and she said in a low voice:

“You know, I started on a new piece of embroidery
only a day before . . . that night . .

Instead of changing the subject of conversation, aS I
should have, I said : “I know.”

The Grand Duchess gave me a bewildered look,
then exclaimed: “How can you know?”

“Because that piece of embroidery has been found,”
I answered. /

“Found? By whom?” she exclaimed again.

“By the investigating magistrates, of course,” I said.,
“What magistrates? Who has ever investigated any-
thing?" Anastasia asked.

“Don’t you know that there has been an investigation
of your family’s fate?” I asked in my turn.

“No, I have never heard of it,” she answered.

Now it was I who stared at her, puzzled. And it
was she whom Glllard and others were accusing of
having acquired all her knowledge of the fate of the
Sovereigns from books! But after further reflection
I realised myself that she actually could not have heard
of Sokolov’s investigation. All the years in Germany
she had been too sick to read, except very rarely, and
naturally her doctors and nurses tried to keep away
from her any books which were likely to upset her. I
remembered also that it was only in 1925 that she had
learned from Mrs. von Rathlcf of the murder of her
unde, Grand Duke Michael, which had also been
investigated by Sokolov. Indeed, the very fact that
she herself was the only survivor of the Ekaterinburg

[293]

THE SIGNED STATEMENT

tragedy she had learned from her rescuer, Alexander
Tschaikovsky. And, outside of her own recollections,
Tschaikovsky’s account was the sole source of her in-
formation regarding the events of the summer of 1918.
Obviously then, she had not heard of Sokolov’s investi-
gation before 1925, and I myself knew that neither
Mrs. Rathlef nor the Leuchtenbergs had ever told her a
word about it.

"And what did that investigation establish?” Anas-
tasia asked me in the meantime. "How much did you
know?”

"Virtually everything,” I said. "Everything, that is,
except the fact of your rescue.”

"And when did you learn about . . . that night?
How long ago?” Anastasia continued her questioning
with growing e.Tcifement.

"Towards the end of ninctecn-cighteen,” I said.

“So you have known it all along . . . ?” she said, or
rather moaned,

"We have,” I said. "And it was for this reason that
at the time of your appearance in Berlin there was so
much of perfectly honest scepticism in regard to your
identity. I myself refused at first to believe that you
could have been rescued,”

“How terrible,” she whispered. “But I have never
known that. I thought that nobody knew what really
happened . .

She grew silent and began to shiver. I noticed that
as usual the memory of the past was causing her tem-
perature to mount. Her cheeks became very red, her
eyes acquired a feverish glitter. After a while she lay
down on her bed and covered herself up to her chin

[294]

THE SIGNED STATEMENT

with blankets, I was smoking in silence, not knowing
what to do or say. Then she began to talk again .

*‘We were awakened in the night. . . . They told
us that there were disturbances in town, that we had to
go down to the basement. ... We believed them.
We never suspected what was to happen. . . . We
dressed in haste and went downstairs. Suddenly You-
rovsky and several of his men ran into the room.
Yourovsky shouted something and began to shoot. . . .
He shot at my father . . . shot him through the
head. ... I saw father fall dead. ... I was hiding
behind Olga. Then I heard Olga scream ... I can
still hear that scream. , . . And then I remember
nothing more. . .

How many times had I read about the events of that
night; how many accounts of it had I studied; how
often had I imagined it and how dreadful had the
thought of it always been to me! And nothing was
there in Anastasia’s simple, brief account that I had not
known for years; nothing dramatic was there in her
words or manner. Yet seldom in my life had I been so
shaken as during those few minutes, listening to her.

It was not what she said or the way she said it. It
was that, while talking, she so obviously returned in
her mind to that night of unfathomable horror and her
thought seemed to materialise itself around us, engulf
my own mind, make me also see that scene with a
clarity well-nigh unendurable.

As for the Grand Duchess herself, after that brief
talk she appeared completely broken — stupefied. As
I had feared, she developed a high fever and had to
remain in bed for the whole of the following day.

[295]

THE SIGNED STATEMENT

Thereafterj as if by common consent, we carefully
avoided the slightest mention of Ekaterinburg

Yet It seemed to me that as time went on and the
Grand Duchess became accustomed to her new sur-
roundings, her nerves began to improve and her spells
of moodiness grew rarer as well as shorter Even her
quarrels with me assumed a new character She still
grew angry with me often enough, but the very nature
of her anger showed that she no longer had the slightest
doubt as to my loyalty

Suspicious of me she remained, but on entirely dif
ferent grounds now she suspected me not of disloyalty,
but of having become too modern and democratic, of
not paying sufficient attention to the rules of the old
Court etiquette, of having lost my respect for Royalty,
in general, of being full of sedition

Yet she herself had entirely too vigorous a mind not
to feel at times attracted by that very seditiousness of
mine Also, she fully shared at least one of my con
victions — namely, that it was futile to live in the past,
that nothing in this world could stand still, that the
right thing to do was not merely to live with one’s
times, but ahead of them, if one could Thus, the same
remark or observation on my part which one day could
lead to a bad disagreement, on another day on the con
trary resulted in a most animated and interesting
discussion

One such discussion left a particularly deep impres
sion on me We happened to be talking of religion and
I told the Grand Duchess of my theological studies,
of my experiences m connection with religious work,
my subsequent disappointment in the tenets and prac
[296]

THE SIGNED STATEMENT

tises of the Greek Catholic Church. Anastasia listened
to me attentively and made many comments which re-
vealed an astonishing insight in regard to spiritual
problems. Then she said :

“Do you know what day remains in my memory as
the worst day of my life?”

My thoughts instantly returned to Ekaterinburg, but
I naturally did not dare to voice them. This time,
however, my guess proved utterly wrong.

“A day during one of my illnesses in Berlin,”
'Anastasia went on without waiting for me to answer.
“I felt that I was dying and began to think of all the
things taught us by priests in our childhood, things
in which my mother believed so firmly till the very
end. And suddenly it came over me that there was no
truth in what the priests had taught us, that they them-
selves had never believed it, that my parents and we
children had been completely duped by them. And
the sudden void which opened before me was more
dreadful than anything I had experienced before or
since. Nothing can be worse than to lose the faith of
• one’s childhood.”

“Would you like to regain that faith?” I asked.

“Neverl” she said, “unless I could know it were
true — ^Far better to suffer agonies, and face the truth,
than be happy because of mere illusions 1”

I may be doing a disservice to Grand Duchess Anas-
tasia by quoting that comment of hers on the faith in
which she was born. The unctuous fraternity of Philis-
tines will certainly not like it. But then I suspect, they
would not have liked Grand Duchess Anastasia under
any circumstances.

[297]

THE SIGNED STATEMENT

Thereafter, as if by common consent, we carefully
avoided the slightest mention of Ekaterinburg.

Yet it seemed to me that as time went on and the
Grand Duchess became accustomed to her new sur-
roundings, her nerves began to improve and her spells
of moodiness grew rarer as well as shorter. Even her
quarrels with me assumed a new character. She still
grew angry with me often enough, but the very nature
of her anger showed that she no longer had the slightest
doubt as to my loyalty.

Suspicious of me she remained, but on entirely dif-
ferent grounds: now she suspected me not of disloyalty,
but of having become too modern and democratic, of
not paying sufficient attention to the rules of the old
Court etiquette, of having lost my respect for Royalty,
in general, of being full of sedition.

Yet she herself had entirely too vigorous a mind not
to feel at times attracted by that very seditiousness of
mine. Also, she fully shared at least one of my con-
victions — namely, that it was futile to live in the past,
that nothing in this world could stand still, that the
right thing to do was not merely to live with one’s
times, but ahead of them, if one could. Thus, the same
remark or observation on my part which one day could
lead to a bad disagreement, on another day on the con-
trary resulted in a most animated and interesting
discussion.

One such discussion left a particularly deep impres-
sion on me. We happened to be talking of religion and
I told the Grand Duchess of my theological studies,
of my experiences in connection with religious work,
my subsequent disappointment in the tenets and prac-
[296]

THE SIGNED STATEMENT

tises of the Greek Catholic Church. Anastasia listened
to me attentively and made many comments which re-
vealed an astonishing insight in regard to spiritual
problems. Then she said:

“Do you know what day remains in my memory as
the worst day of my life?”

My thoughts instantly returned to Ekaterinburg, but
I naturally did not dare to voice them. This time,
however, my guess proved utterly wrong.

“A day during one of my illnesses in Berlin,”
Anastasia went on without waiting for me to answer,
“I felt that I was dying and began to think of all the
things taught us by priests in our childhood, things
in which my mother believed so firmly till the very
end. And suddenly it came over me that there was no
truth in what the priests had taught us, that they them-
selves had never believed it, that my parents and we
children had been completely duped by them. And
the sudden void which opened before me was more
dreadful than anything I had experienced before or
since. Nothing can be worse than to lose the faith of
one’s childhood.”

“Would you like to regain that faith?” I asked.
“Neverl” she said, “unless I could know it were
true — Far better to suffer agonies, and face the truth
than be happy because of mere illusions I”

I may be doing a disservice to Grand Duchess Anas-
tasia by quoting that comment of hers on the faith in
which she was born. The unctuous fraternity of Philis-
tines will certainly not like it But then I suspect thev
would not have liked Grand Duchess Anastak inder
any circumstances. «‘iucr

[297]

THE SIGNED STATEMENT

Sincerely religious people, however, will perceive
the touch of true greatness in that woman to whom the
worst earthly trials and tragedies appear less important
than the spiritual suffering of discarding beliefs dear
and comforting but untenable to her as abstract truth.
Indeed, it is to people of such mettle that religion owes
whatever progress it has made in the course of the ages.

But what a ghastly irony of fate that Grand Duchess
Anastasia with her intense and unbending determination
to “suffer agonies, but face the truth,” remains to the
world at large an impostor, a fraud — or perhaps a
pathetic maniac — and this because of the assertions of
such people as her aunts, the deplorable Gillard and
all the rest of her opponents.

[298]

XIII

SECRETS OF RUSSIAN ROYALTY

W HEN Anastasia entered her room in the
Garden City Hotel for the first time, she
immediately noticed an etching on the wall
above the bed. The etching represented a very hand-
some young woman dressed in the style of the First
Empire, a light shawl partly covering her hair and
wrapped around her neck. The Grand Duchess
became unaccountably agitated and with a puzzled
smile exclaimed ;

“To find this picture in an American hotel hanzino-
above my bedl How strangel” ®

“What is there so remarkable about this picture?" T
asked.

“Don’t you know whose portrait it is?" Anast •
asked in her turn. ’’

“I have no idea,” I confessed.

“You ought to be ashamed of yourself" a
said. “And I am not going to tell you.' y^’^’^^ia
remember it yourself.” ^tist

I tried to assure the Grand Duchess that t
never remember that pieture, because I saw ■ ^ ’^old
the first time in my life. She continued to
I had to remember it and that she wouM •hat
anything. tell me

My curiosity thoroughly aroused, I ijj

'’“Minting of .
[299]

THE SIGNED STATEMENT

Sincerely religious people, however, will perceive
the touch of true greatness in that woman to whom the
worst earthly trials and tragedies appear less important
than the spiritual suffering of discarding beliefs dear
and comforting but untenable to her as abstract truth.
Indeed, it is to people of such mettle that religion owes
whatever progress it has made in the course of the ages.

But what a ghastly irony of fate that Grand Duchess
Anastasia with her intense and unbending determination
to “suffer agonies, but face the truth," remains to the
world at large an impostor, a fraud — or perhaps a
pathetic maniac — and this because of the assertions of
such people as her aunts, the deplorable Gillard and
all the rest of her opponents.

[298]

XJII

SECRETS OF RUSSl-^N ROYALTY

W HEN Anastasia entered her room in the
Garden City Hotel for the first time, she
immediately noticed an etching on the wall
above the bed* The etching represented a very hand-
some young woman dressed in the style of the First
Empire, a light shawl partly covering her hair and
wrapped around her neck. The Grand Duchess
became unaccountably agitated and with a puzzled
smile exclaimed:

“To find this picture in an American hotel, hanging
above my bedl How strangel”

“What is there so remarkable about this picture?” I
asked.

“Don’t you know whose portrait it is?” Anastasia
asked in her turn.

“I have no idea,” I confessed.

“You ought to be ashamed of yourself,” Anastasia
said. “And I am not going to tell you. You must
remember it yourself.”

I tried to assure the Grand Duchess that I could
never remember that picture, because I saw it now for
the first time in my life. She continued to insist that
I had to remember it and that she would not tell me
anything.

My curiosity thoroughly aroused, I kept thinking of

[299]

SECRETS OF RUSSIAN ROYALTY

the picture for the rest of the day, but to no avail On
the foilowmg morning the Grand Duchess said
“I had a very restful night because she was watching
over me ” She pointed once more at the m>stenous
lady with a shawl “I really was quite happy to find
her here It must be a good omen ”

“It IS a complete riddle to me,” I laughed “Won’t
you save me further agony and tell whose portrait
It is?"

But the Grand Duchess refused and for several days
thereafter kept teasing me about my ignorance and
asking whether I actually could not remember who the
lady was Finally she relented and said
“It IS a portrait of my great great grandmother
Now do you feel ashamed for having failed to recog
nise her?"

“Goodness I" I said “I suppose I ought to feel
ashamed, and it is a strange coincidence to find a picture
of your great great grandmother in an American hotel
Even so, I must confess that I still do not know who the
lady IS ”

“Fie on you,” Anastasia said “Queen Louise of
Prussia, of course, mother of my great grandmother,
Empress Alexandra — ^wife of Emperor Nicholas First
How IS It that you know so little about my family?
And now that I have told you that it is Queen Louise,
can you at least tell me why she wore a shawl around
her neck?”

“Fashion, I suppose,” I ventured
“Fashion?” Anastasia laughted “Well, if you wish,
for she did succeed in making a fashion of it But
why did she do it?”

[300]

SECRETS OF RUSSIAN ROYALTY

“I really don’t know," I said.

“Because she had an ugly scar on her neck,” Anas-
tasia explained. “But you really ought to have known
it yourself.”

That incident proved to be but one of many of the
same kind. As I soon discovered, Grand Duchess
Anastasia was a veritable eneyclopaidia on matters
pertaining to the history of all the Royal houses of
Europe.

One day Anastasia gave me a newspaper and, point-
ing to some article, exclaimed indignantly:

“Read thisl"

I naturally expected some piece of important and
upsetting news, but presently discovered that the article
concerned some collection of porcelain which the Duke
of Hanover had just offered for sale.

“Isn’t it terrible?” Anastasia exclaimed as soon as I
had finished reading the article.

“What is terrible?” I asked, puzzled.

“That he dares to offer his collection for sale 1” Anas-
tasia said.

“Why shouldn’t the Duke of Hanover sell his own
collection?” I asked.

“Don’t you know even that?” she retorted, as so
often. “Because it is the only collection of its kind,
and he has no right to offer it for salel”

And she launched on a long speech, quoting some
ancient agreements and treaties, of which I remember
only that the colleetion was in some way entailed and
could not be disposed of without the consent of the
Hanover municipality. Had the Hanover municipal-
ity acmally wanted to keep that collection, it could not

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have done better than retain Grand Duchess Anastasia
as their la\^er. ‘

I was thinking at the time of writing a biography of
I^eter the Great. Anastasia became quite enthusiastic
about the idea, for Peter the Great was one of her
favourite rulers. We began to discuss the various oc-
curences of his reign and I mentioned the mysterious
death of his oldest son, Czarevich Alexis.

Russian historians had never been able to establish
the exacts circumstances of that death. Czarevich
Alexis^ — a sad degenerate and drunkard who had killed
his own wife 'by kicking her in the stomach when she
was in the last stages of pregnancy — had crowned his
misdeeds by organising a political conspiracy against
his own father. He was arrested and put on trial,
together with 149 of his fellow conspirators, but died
on the eve of the announcement of the verdict. Alhthe
149 of his associates were found’guilty of high treason
and executed. Some historians were of the opinion
that he died of natural causes, for he had always been in
ill health, others, that he died in consequence of the
tortures to which all of the accused had been subjected,
still others, that he had been secretly murdered, either
to spare^he Emperor the horrible necessity of signing
the death warrant of his own son or, on the contrary, in
the fear that Peter the Great was likely to pardon him.

But when, I began to enumerate those different
theories to Anastasia, she^nterrupted me, and said;

“There is no mystery about Alexis’ death. He was
decapitated on orders of Peter the Great.”

I wasjqujte startled by Anastasia's declaration and
the positive tone of her assertion.

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“I have never heard this version before,” I said.
"How do you know that Alexis was decapitated?”

“If there is anything I ought to know, it is the history
of my own family," Anastasia laughed. “As for Alexis’
death I know about it from a manifesto signed by Peter
the Great himself. Apparently the Emperor had
wanted at first to announce Alexis’ execution officially,
but was dissuaded from doing so. The manifesto he
had signed remained, however, in the secret archives of
our family.”

Of those secret archives I had heard a great deal
when I was still in school, but they seem to have been
accessible only to the reigning Emperor and his im-
mediate family. Even the cousin of Emperor Nicholas
II, Grand Duke Nicholas Michailovich, who was a
historian, did not — judging by his writings — possess a
definite knowledge of certain facts which were known
to be on record in those secret archives.

Anastasia’s revelation started me on a new search for
clues regarding the true manner of Alexis’ death, but
it was by the purest of accidents that I finally found a
small French booklet privately printed in France by a
‘ Prince Galitzin sometime in the second half of the last
century. According to the Prince’s foreword, the book-
let represented anonymous memoirs of one of Peter the
Great’s nearest lieutenants. Great was my astonish-
ment when 1 found in that booklet the statement that
Peter the Great had signed, on June 25th, 1718, two
copies of a memorandum in the form of a manifesto
announcing the decapitation of Alexis, but that the
manifesto had never been made public and only one

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copy of It preserved in the secret archives of the Im
penal Family

Another time Grand Duchess Anastasia asked me
“Did the question ever occur to you how Catherine the
Great, the daughter of an obscure German princeling,
happened to be selected to marry the Heir of the Rus
Sian throne?”

“As far as I know,” I said, “it was Frederick the
Great who had recommended her to Empress
Elisabeth ”

“Right!” Anastasia said “But why did Frederick
the Great recommend instead of some princess of an
important German family, the daughter of the totally
unknown Prince von Anhalt Zerbst, who, besides, was
only a child at the time?”

“I have no idea,” I said

“And another thing,” Anastasia continued “Cath
enne’s father, the Prince von Anhalt Zerbst, was a
notoriously stupid man Where did Catherine herself
get her brains?”

“From her mother or grandparents, perhaps,” I
ventured

“Not at all,” Anastasia laughed “Catherine got her
brains from no other person than her own father Only
her father was, in reality, not the Prince von Anhalt
Zerbst, but Frederick the Great himself "

That was another astonishing revelation, and when
I communicated it to some of my Russian friends, they
said that it was altogether impossible because T rcdenck
the Great was only by fourteen years Catherine’s senior
After considerable research, hoi^ever, I disco\crcd that
m the opinion of several historians Catherine, at the

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time of her arrival in Russia, had added two years to
her age, for her real age made her too young for mar-
riage. In such a case Frederick the Great was by
si.vteen years her senior. I further discovered that at
the age of fifteen and sixteen Frederick the Great
served as a plain officer in a small garrison commanded
by the Prince von Anhalt-Zerbst; still further, that
although the latter had actually enjoyed the reputation
of an extremely stupid and useless person, Frederick the
Great had given him the rank of field marshal.

Decidedly, had Anastasia been a Polish peasant — as
Gillard insisted that she was — she would have had to be
a miracle. I rather prided myself on my knowledge
of Russian history and had never ceased studying it
Yet, here I was learning from Anastasia — who had not
held a historical book in her hands for ten years — facts
which even the foremost Russian historians had been
unable to establish.

Significantly also, it was not just a general knowledge
of history that Anastasia possessed. It was the intimate
history of the Russian Imperial Family which she
knew — knew it, moreover, not in the manner of a
scholar who after years of research and study arrives
at certain conclusions, but with the simple certitude of
one in possession of what we call inside information.

From the way she spoke of those facts it was clear
that to her they had never represented any mystery.
She did not try to prove them even to me. She simply
stated them with complete assurance. Also, those facts
did not seem to possess in her eye the value of tremen-
dously important historical revelations which they
actually were. Rather^ like a child, she felt delighted

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to know things which nobody else knew, and herself
was amused by them, as one always is by family skele-
tons which have been successfully concealed from the
rest of the world.

During one of those historical discussions I said to
Anastasia:

“Another mystery to us commoners is the question
whether Emperor Paul was the son of Peter the Third
or of Catherine the Great’s lover, Saltykov. Most his-
torians believe that he was the son of Saltykov, but to
me it seems that both in appearance and character Paul
resembled Peter the Third in many ways. My teacher
of history told me that members of the Imperial Family
alone know for certain who Paul’s father was, because
a record of the actual circumstances of his birth was
kept in the secret archives. Is that true?”

“It is,” Anastasia said. “And I must disappoint you,
for Emperor Paul was the son of Saltykov.”

“In other -words,” I said, “the present Romanovs,
yourself included, being the descendants of Catherine
of Anhalt-Zcrbst and Saltykov, have not a drop of the
Romanov blood in your veins.”

“That’s right,” Anastasia said. And she began to
laugh like a naughty child, apparently vastly amused
by the consideration that she was a Romanov without
having a drop of Romanov blood in her veins.

Incidentally, the willingness of the Grand Duchess
to answer my questions represented an imporwnt step
forward in my struggle against some of her unfor-
tunate idios)*ncrasies.

Needless to say, nothing was so painful and insulting
to her as any doubt in regard to her identity. And

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being both extremely sensitive and proud, she reacted
to such doubts, not by attempting to dispel them, but,
on the contrary, by refusing to dispel them. To try to
convince a sceptic she considered utterly beneath her
dignity. The moment she sensed that a question was
being put to her for the purpose of testing her memory
or knowledge of things, she froze into angry silence.

Still further, she could become quite angry even at
people whom she knew to be convinced of her identity,
but who tried to obtain from her statements which
would allow them to convince others. It was to the
latter category that I myself belonged. She knew from
our very first meeting that I had fully recognised her,
but for a long time suspected me of trying to gather
material to prove her identity to the public.

Once, when, instead of answering some perfectly
inconsequential question, she — as so often — asked irri-
tably, “Why do you ask me that? Are you trying to
test my memory again?” I told her frankly that her
suspiciousness was getting tiresome.

“As a matter of fact, I was not trying to test your
memory at all,” I said. “But suppose I did. What
crime would there be in that? I can easily enough
understand that you personally refuse to do anything
to prove the fact of your identity to sceptics. In a way,
it is most unfortunate, for you are your own best wit-
ness. But were I in your position, I should probably
feel and behave just as you do. The more important it
is for your friends to do everything in their power to
convince the public that you are Grand Duchess Anas-
tasia of Russia and not a Polish peasant or a Chinese
mandarin.”

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“But that is just what I cannot understand!” the
Grand Duchess flared up. “You seem to be always fuss*
ing with that public of yourt. Pray, how does it con-
cern me what some people in the street may think of
me? It certainly does not disturb me in the least if
they imagine that I am a Polish peasant; nor would it
help me in the least should you convince them all that I
am my own self. Those people mean nothing to me!

Naturally, Anastasia would not openly admit that I
was right and she was wrong, but I think that it was -
partly because of that argument that she soon ceased to
object to my every question. She began to retaliate,
however, by questioning me in her turn, and nothing
would please her more than to catch me in not knowing
something I ought to have known.

One day she approached me with a sly little smile
and gave me a wooden paper knife with her mother’s
monogram encrusted on it in metal.

“Have you ever seen this paper knife before?” she
asked.

“I am pretty sure I have,” I said, for, indeed, the
paper knife looked very familiar. “But I cannot
remember where.”

“Oh, no,” Anastasia laughed. “You arc not going
to convince me of your identity with any such evasive
answers. If you are Gleb Botkin you must know where
you have seen this paper knife. Otherwise I shall send
you to Gilliird for identification.”

I looked at the paper knife again, and the more I
looked at it the more convinced I became that I had
seen it before, but where I ^"as quite unable to remem-
ber. And, in the meantime, Anastasia kept confusing
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me further with all sorts of silly suggestions as to the
place where I might have seen the knife. Finally she
burst into laughter and exclaimed :

“What a memoryl This knife belonged to your
father and was always lying on his desk. You saw it
every day in the course of several years. It was your
sister who gave it to me in Germany. I do hope, for
your sake, that you will never have to establish your
identity on the basis of your childhood recollections.”

Such a pity it was that because of her amputated left
elbow the poor Grand Duchess had lost the control of
the fingers on her left hand and could not, in conse-
quence, play the pianol It would have been a great
consolation to her, for she was passionately fond of
music and in her youth had been quite an accomplished
pianist. Her memory for melodies was astounding.
Two or three bars of any piece of music were enough
for her to tell what it was.

'The Richards had given her a radio and we de-
veloped a sort of game — tuning in on different pro-
grams without looking at the newspaper, and then
trying to guess what particular piece of music was
being played. Although my own memory for melodies
is far from bad, Anastasia’s score in that game was
always incomparably higher than mine.

But one day, while listening to some man sing in a
mournful bass, we both had to admit that we could not
guess what his song was.

“Well, at least let us try and guess to what nationality
it belongs,” Anastasia said. “What is your guess?”

I listened for a while longer, then said: “Spanish ”

“Neverl” the Grand Duchess exclaimed. “Spanish,

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indeed! It may be anything under the sun, except
Spanish 1”

“I don't know what makes you so certain,” I said.'
“But if it isn’t Spanish it must be Argentinean.”

“Goodness 1” Anastasia said. “You are terrible I
Yet you claim to know something about music. It is
neither Spanish, nor Argentinean, nor of any other
Latin land.”

“It sounds Latin to me,” I insisted.

“You are hopeless,” Anastasia said. “I cannot guess
what it is, but I know that it is not LatinT

At that moment the singer stopped and the announcer
said: “You were listening to the love song of a Finn
serenading the lady of his heart in the enchantment of
a northern spring night.”

Anastasia was seized with such laughter that she al-
most fell off her chair.

“And after this I am supposed to believe that you
were born in Finland I” she said. “Not that it is neces-
sary to be born in Finland in order to distinguish Fin-
nish songs from Spanish ones. Spanish, Argentinean.

. . . But you can afford it,” she added, suddenly ceas-
■' ing to laugh. “Can you imagine what Gillard would
have written about me had I mistaken a Finnish song
for a Spanish one?”

In all my efforts to induce the Grand Duchess to
resume the use of the Russian language I failed com-
pletely. I argued with her, pleaded, begged and tried
all possible tricks, but achieved nothing except a few
rather bad quarrels. But of the fact that she had fully
retained her command of Russian I managed to ob-
tain sufficient evidence by bringing her Russian books.
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If a book contained illustrations likely to interest her,

I gave it to her openly. Otherwise, I simply pretended
to have forgotten a book I myself was reading.

Invariably she discussed with me the contents oi
those books, even though she would never admit having
read them. The manner in which she pronounced the
Russian names of characters and localities described
in the books showed that — as I had already noticed
during my first conversation with her in Seeon — ^Anas-
tasia had also preserved that charming and inimitable
accent which had always marked her own and her
sisters* speech.

Her refusal to talk Russian, when she so obviously
knew it better than any other language and it was so
important for her to prove the fact to the world, created
for me the atmosphere of a bad dream. But eventually
I myself gave up the matter as self-evidently hopeless.
Nor do I think that Grand Duchess Anastasia will ever
speak Russian again, except, perhaps, in court in order
to convince the jury of her identity, although I am in-
clined to doubt even that.

But it was not always that Anastasia and I wrestled ..
with such serious problems or talked on such subjects ^
as history, politics, religion or music. Indeed, more
often we talked of nothing at all significant, as is the
custom of any two persons who happen to meet everv
day.

At times Anastasia seemed to forget entirely all her
sorrows and cares and began — as of old — to laugh, joke
talk delightful nonsense and indulge in funny pranks!

Her mischievousness remained, as it had always
been, not free from a slight touch of cruelty. Thus

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often enough, during an important legal conference or
a visit of some pompous personage, Anastasia would
place herself in a spot where I alone could see her and
proceed to make the most atrocious grimaces, while I
had to remain very grave and k.eep on discussing im-
portant matters with appropriate solemnity.

Or else, seemingly restless, she would pace the carpet,
shuffling her feet and then, while passing me, and un-
observed by others press her finger on the back of my
neck, giving me a terrible electric shock; or yet, with
a perfectly straight face, begin to make some extremely
funny observations about those present, in German,
while I had to pretend that she was making some seri-
ous comments on the subject under discussion

It was, however, a form of cruelty which I forgave
her only too gladly, which, in fact, I enjoyed im
mensely For it was when in such a mood that Grand
Duchess Anastasia became wholly the adorable naughty
princess, the beloved “Little One” of the happy days
of our childhood

A thing I was particularly anxious to accomplish
was to help Grand Duchess Anastasia conquer that
devil of quarrelsomeness of which she had told me for
the first time shortly after her ajrnval in New York
Her belief that she could not control that devil was
the only trait in her which bordered on the pathologi-
cal It was also a cause of many past unpleasantnesses
and a menace to her future, causing, as it did, so many
people to turn against her

Whenever the Grand Duchess referred to her future
quarrel with me, which she still seemed to regard as
inevitable, I pointed out to her that such a quarrel did

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not have to occur unless she actually wanted it. There
was no devil in her, I assured her. She was simply
glorifying her own capriciousness in imagining an un-
conquerable outside force. In reality, she had quite
enough self-control to conquer it, were she only to
decide in good earnest to do so.

At times such observations on my part annoyed Anas-
tasia, but often enough she accepted them quite good-
naturedly. Once, after a peaceful end to a particularly
bad altercation, she said to me:

*‘You know, I actually may make an exception of you
and never quarrel with you completely. Perhaps I
would not have quarrelled with all those other people
had they been a little more patient with me. But even-
tually they themselves always abandoned me. But you
never seem to lose patience.” And with a grateful smile
she added: “I begin to think that I could not get rid of
you if I tried.”

Statements of that kind, which she subsequently re-
peated on several occasions, gave me, needless to say,
immense satisfaction. Aside from anything else, I felt
that were the Grand Duchess to become convinced that
she could keep just one friend for life, she would with
time include other people in the same category and
eventually free herself entirely from the obsession that
her every friendship had to end in a quarrel.

However, Anastasia’s growing confidence in me
proved also a source of new difficulties between us. The
Grand Duchess had fully inherited that jealous pos-
sessiveness which was so characteristic of her mother,
the late Empress Alexandra. The more she trusted me
and believed in my ability to win her complete rehabil-

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often enough, during an important legal conference or
a visit of some pompous personage, Anastasia would
place herself in a spot where I alone could see her and
proceed to make the most atrocious grimaces, while I
had to remain very grave and keep on discussing im-
portant matters with appropriate solemnity.

Or else, seemingly restless, she would pace the carpet,
shuffling her feet and then, while passing me, and un-
observed by others press her finger on the back of my
neck, giving me a terrible electric shock; or yet, with
a perfectly straight face, begin to make some extremely
funny observations about those present, in German,
while I had to pretend that she was making some seri-
ous comments on the subject under discussion.

It was, however, a form of cruelty which I forgave
her only too gladly, which, in fact, I enjoyed im-
mensely. For it was when in such a mood that Grand
Duchess Anastasia became wholly the adorable naughty
princess, the beloved “Little One” of the happy days
of our childhood.

A thing I was particularly anxious to accomplish
was to help Grand Duchess Anastasia conquer that
devil of quarrelsomeness of which she had told me for
the first time shortly after her arrival in New York.
Her belief that she could not control that-devil was
the only trait in her which bordered on the pathologi-
cal. It was also a cause of many past unple.isantnesscs
and a menace to her future, causing, as it did, so many
people to turn against her.

Whenever the Grand Duchess referred to her future
quarrel with me, which she still seemed to regard as
inevitable, I pointed out to her that such a quarrel did

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not have to occur unless she actually wanted it. There
was no devil in her, I assured her. She w-as simply
glorifying her own capriciousness in imagining an un-
conquerable outside force. In reality, she had quite
enough self-control to conquer it, were she only to
decide in good earnest to do so.

At times such observations on my part annoyed Anas-
tasia, but often enough she accepted them quite good-
naturedly, Once, after a peaceful end to a particularly
bad altercation, she said to me:

“You know, I actually may make an exception of you
and never quarrel with you completely. Perhaps I
would not have quarrelled with all those other people
had they been a little more patient with me. But even-
tually they themselves always abandoned me. But you
never seem to lose patience.” And with a grateful smile
she added: “I begin to think that I could not get rid of
you if I tried.”

Statements of that kind, which she subsequently re-
peated on several occasions, gave me, needless to say,
immense satisfaction. Aside from anything else, I felt
that were the Grand Duchess to become convinced that

she could keep just one friend for life, she would with
time include other people in the same category and
eventually free herself entirely from the obsession that
her every friendship had to end in a quarrel.

However, Anastasia’s growing confidence in me
proved also a source of new difficulties between us. The
Grand Duchess had fully inherited that jealous pos-
sessiveness which was so characteristic of her mother
the late Empress Alexandra. The more she trusted me
and believed m my ability_to win her complete rehabil

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itation, the more eager she was to have me do nothing
except take care of her atfairs.

To some extent she was quite right; in continuing to
occupy myself, not only with Anastasia’s, but also my
own affairs, including efforts to earn a living, develop
my literary career and keep up my theological studies,
I was trying to do too much. Anastasia conceded that
I could not very well abandon my family, but felt that
I should give up all other work and offered to give me
all the money she could spare. She was touchingly in-
sistent upon it and when she received the advance from
my publishers absolutely refused to dictate her memoirs
to me unless I would take part of it in payment for my
work.

Had all the money Anastasia received represented
advance payments for work done as much by me as by
her, I might perhaps have accepted what would have
amounted to the remuneration due me as Anastasia’s
paid secretary. But, except for that advance, all her
money was given her by my own friends simply out of
kindness.

Anastasia, however, could not understand that dif-
ference. She insisted that she needed my services as
much as she needed shelter and food, so that she had
every right to pay me a salary, and that by doing other
work I was retarding the progress of her affairs. Still
further, she did not believe that it was solely because
of such ethical considerations that I refused to dedicate
to ttio task, oi vrAoWig kts Sb.e

suspected that I did not trust her enough to make my-
self wholly dependent on her and that my devotion to
her was not sufficiently great to make me abandon

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either my other interests in life or my desire to achieve
a fame of my own.

Once more, the Grand Duchess was partly right. Not
that I either mistrusted her or lacked in devotion to
her. But I certainly could not regard my work on her
behalf as a possible source of cither income or fame.
It was for me a duty dictated by nothing save my af-
fection both for her parents and herself. As for my
other occupations— especially my literary and theo-
logical work — I was, indeed, unable to abandon them,
although again it was my desire to accomplish certain
things, rather than achieve any kind of fame, which
made it impossible for me to give them up.

But it was difficult for Grand Duchess Anastasia to
understand such a point of view. Like her cousin,
Xenia, who always seemed to suspect me of some ul-
terior motives, she was so permeated with. the Byzantine
tradition of the Imperial Court as to make a disinter-
ested pursuit of abstract ideals appear to her almost too
fantastic for belief. However, possessed as she was of
much intelligence and perceptivity, she did eventually
become convinced of my disinterestedness, but in con-
sequence began anew to distrust, not my devotion to
her, but my — in her opinion — eccentric temperament.
One day, with somewhat assumed facetiousness, she

“Had I suddenly become the Empress of Russia I
could not find a better Prime Minister than you. And
yet people of your type have always been regarded bv
autocrats as most dangerous.” ^

“Why dangerous?" I laughed.

“Because an autocrat cannot rely on any such thing

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as personal devotion,” Anastasia said “He must feel
certain of having all his assistants completely in his
power. But a man who serves you, not in order to ac-
quire either wealth or glory or any other personal ad-
vantage, but purely out of personal devotion to you
IS never completely m your power He can neither be
scared nor bribed into doing things he does not feel
like doing. Besides, de\otion is a matter of moods A
man might lose his devotion to you overnight and be
come your worst enemy ”

“What a dreadful doctrine,” I said “It is not with-
out logic, I admit, but a diabolical sort of logic Do
you mean to say that your father, the Emperor, actually
followed such a rule m selecting his assistants?”

“Of course he did Every autocrat always did,”
Anastasia said. “With your knowledge of history you
ought to have understood that yourself Nor do I see
anything diabolical in such a practise Pray, on what
basis do you select your servants? Would you like your
valet, when you tell him to give you a certain kind of
tie, to refuse to do so because in his own conviction some
other fie is more becoming to you? It seems pretty
obvious that a good servant must first and above all be
willing to obey your orders, doesn’t it?”

“Which IS one of the many reasons why I never
wanted to have a valet,” I laughed “And again I ad-
mit that your reasoning is most logical, albeit in a
rather ghastly way At the same time it gives me a
different picture of the events of 1917 If all the high
officials and courtiers were selected on such a basis, no
wonder they all ran from the palace at the first sign of
danger, like rats from a sinking ship ”

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“Oh, nol" Anastasia exclaimed, her eyes lighting
with anger. “The Revolution had nothing to do with
the way in which high officials were being selected 1
'What caused the revolution and the betrayal of my
father by most of his servants was my father’s lenience.
He was far too kind to the Russian people. They were
not afraid of him. Had he been another Peter the
Great or Ivan the Terrible, there would have been no
Revolution!”

How very familiar that last statement sounded to me.

1 had read only recently the letters Empress Alexandra
had written to her husband during the war. And the
admonition, “Be another^ Peter the Great, be another
Ivan the Terrible,” seemed to be the main theme of all
those letters. Anastasia had not read them, did not
even know that they had been published until about a
month later, when I myself gave her a copy of them.
But, no doubt, the Empress must have repeated the
same admonition often enough in her children’s pres-
ence.

She seemed to have been obsessed with the idea that
the Emperor could solve all his problems by becoming
as cruel as Peter the Great and Ivan the Terrible. But
Emperor Nicholas II was not a cruel man and could
not force himself to become one. Moreover, it was not
W. cvcitltj altme that Peter the Great and Ivan the Ter-
rible owed the success of their reigns. Both happened
to be great rulers and reformers and had treated so
cruelly not the champions of progress, but rather the
conservative nobility which opposed all progress.

But I did not attempt to explain all that to Grand
Duchess Anastasia. Except on the subject of religion

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she continued to regard her mother as infallible and
any criticism of the latter’s opinions only offended her
needlessly.

In the meantime, Miss Jennings kept asking Anas-
tasia to leave Garden City and come to live with her.
At '■first Anastasia flatly refused. I feared that Miss
-Jennings would feel offiended by that refusal, but s e
did not. She continued to insist, however, that Anas-
tasia was not comfortable in the hotel, and finally per
suaded her to move into a separate house, hiring one
of the waiters from the hotel as Anastasia’s servant an
guard. At the same time she did not give up hope that
- the Grand Duchess would eventually return to her and
asked me to assist her in the matter by using my influ-

ence on Anastasia in that direction.

“There is no doubt that the Grand Duchess would he
safer and more comfortable living- with you than by
herself,” I said to Miss Jennings. “But I must warn
you that she is rather difficult to handle. Her nervous
condition has improved tremendously, yet once in a
while she still succumbs to spells of moodiness and
quarrelsomeness; and when she starts quarrelling s e
becomes not merely exasperating, but often quite insu -
ing. Now she can be as exasperating and insulting to
me as she pleases, but she cannot mean as much to you
as she means to me; and I am terribly afraid that were
she to live with you, after a few sucli quarrels you
would turn against her.”

“Ncverl” Miss Jennings exclaimed. Do you sus-
pect me of being the kind of hostess Princess - cnia
■ proved to be? Who can blame the Grand D^hess for
not being always able to control her nerves? T le won
[dtS]

I-MPLUOR WITH DR BOTMN \ND HI'S ItRstON^L
DtCV'tl CAIT DR^^TEL^ IN TERMAW IN loot)

SECRETS OF RUSSIAN ROYALTY

der is that she is merely temperamental instead of being
stark mad. No, I can assure you that no matter what
she does, I shall never turn against’her. She can insult
me as much as she likes, she can quarrel with me ten
times a day. Never will I abandon her!”

“I am glad to hear that,” I said. “But let me say
again that mere friendship and admiration will not suf-
fice to enable you either to remain always patient with
the Grand Duchess or give her what she really needs.
What she does need is true, motherly love. If you can
regard her as your daughter with whom you could
never become angry, whom you would forgive any-
thing, whom, moreover, you were determined to nurse
■ back to complete health at all cost, only then should I
feel safe in advising the Grand Duchess to accept your
invitation.”

“Well, in such a*case, you certainly can advise her
to come to live with mel” Miss Jennings exclaimed.
“You have described exactly my own feelings for the
Grand Duchess: I do love her as if she were my own
daughter. I will never abandon her. As I have al-
ready told you, I will leave my whole fortune to her.
I hope this will convince you that you have nothing to
fear in allowing me to take complete charge' of her.
And, of course, my house will be always open to you
and you could continue to visit, the. GrjmAD'irJ2ftss,aa,
often as you pleased. In fact, I would beg you to give
her all the time you could possibly spare.”

Once more I allowed myself to be persuaded when
I should have known better. But so emphatic, so touch-
ing was Miss Jennings in her protestations of love for
the Grand Duchess that it was impossible for me to

[319]

SECRETS OF RUSSIAN ROYALTY

doubt her sincerity. Even so, I could not openly ad-
vise Anastasia to accept Miss Jennings’ invitation for
she would take such advice as a sign that my devotion to
her was waning All I could do was to tell the Grand
Duchess that I did not feel justified in opposing cate
gorically Miss Jennings’ plans on her behalf, because I
knew that in Miss Jennings’ house she would enioy
much greater comfort and luxury, and certainly be
much safer than in Garden City, where she had nobody,
except her one servant, to protect her

Unfortunately, even such indirect suggestions on my
part sufficed to make Anastasia suspicious of my true
motives She resumed, again her complaints against
the many interests I had outside of her own affairs, and
even hinted that I was probably tired of her and wanted
to get rid of her in order to devote myself wholly to ray
own work In consequence a new element of strain
entered our relations To make it worse, my own
health began to be affected by overwork and worry and
I was no longer always able to be quite as patient with
Anastasia as I had been before The situation came to
a climax shortly before Christmas when I contracted a
severe case of influenza The Grand Duchess suspected
that my illness was a diplomatic one, that I simply
wanted to take a rest She felt deeply hurt and decided
to move to Miss Jennings’ house I saw her for the last
time m January, 1929

In the summer of 1929 Grand Duchess Mane ar
rived in New York She was one of the two cousins
of Grand Duchess Xenia who had signed the latter s
statement declaring Anastasia an impostor Hence, the
more pleased I was to learn from Mrs Derfelden that
[320]

SECRCTS or RUSSIAN ROYALTY

Mane had now expressed to Princess Xenia her will-
ingness to reconsider the matter of Anastasia’s identity
Recent discussions of Anastasia’s case with Grand Duke
Alexander, Mane told Xenia, had given her a strong
suspicion that Alexander was not acting in the best of
faith In consequence, she was very eager to meet
Anastasia personally, and, were she to become con-
vinced of her identity, do everything she could for her.

Shortly afterwards Mane actually approached Miss
Jennings, asking her permission to visit Anastasia But
Miss Jennings found nothing better to do than forbid
Mane to set foot in her house, because she, Mane, had
signed Grand Duchess Xenia’s declaration that Anas-
tasia was an impostor

I was horrified to hear of that decision on Miss Jen-
nings’ part, and although not acquainted with Grand
Duchess Mane personally, wrote her a letter assuring
her that Miss Jennings’ attitude was by no means shared
by other friends of Anastasia, and that 1 myself was
most eager to have her meet Anastasia I also volun-
teered to arrange such a meeting outside of Miss Jen-
nings’ house through some of my friends with whom
Anastasia had remained on good terms

I received no direct answer to my letter, but in a
■week or so was informed by Mrs Derfelden that Grand
Divchf'ii? Masjs hsS ft? P/v.wvej j' serv-

ices as mediator between Grand Duchess Anastasia
and the other members of the Imperial Family

All these negotiations having been only oral, I natur-
ally cannot vouch that it all happened m the manner m
which the matter was reported to me, but somewhat
later I was again informed that Mane and Xenia

[321 ]

SECRETS or RUSSIAN ROYALTY

proved unable to agree as to the conditions on which

they were to achieve i compromise

Nc\crthclcss, I hid reason to believe that some
such negotiations between Grand Duchess Mane and
Princess Xenia hid ictuilly taken place Mrs Dcr
fclden certainly could not have invented the whole
stor> Furthermore, in the course of the same summer
I was visited several times by a Polish count a close
friend of Prince Youssoupov and well acquainted with
Grand Duchess Xenia The Count told me that Grand
Duchess Xenia was now ready to acknowledge Anas
tasia formally, provided she could be assured of receiv
mg a substantial part of Anastasia’s fortune

“The trouble is,” the Count explained, “that if Xenia
simply acknowledges Anastasia, Anastasia will get her
money and give nothing to Xenia But if Xenia first
concludes some agreement with Anastasia as to the di
vision of the money and then acknowledges her, she will
make herself open to the accusation of having entered
an agreement with a possible impostor for the purpose
of getting money from the Bank of England ’

It was indeed a difficult situation and although the
Count and I discussed many different schemes, none of
them appeared quite satisfactory

‘My only regret is,” the Count said at his last meet
mg with me, “that you and I had not been charge
with the task of settling the dispute from the very first,
before so much bitterness had accumulated and so many
new people got mixed up in the case For some reason
your opponents have imagined that you were primari y
interested in getting hold of that money in the Bank o
England and therefore would not assist in a compro

[32a]

SECRETS OF RUSSIAN ROYALTY

misc. Now I can see that you were precisely the person
who could have achieved a compromise.”

“Which shows that mistrust is not always helpful,”

I observed. “I have been preaching a compromise to
everybody concerned from the very day on which we
learned that the Bank of England had refused to give
Anastasia’s money to Xenia. And the only demand I
made was that the compromise had to be based on the
formal acknowledgment of Grand Duchess Anastasia
by Grand Duchess Xenia and the rest of the Roma-
novs.”

"I am pretty certain that Grand Duchess Xenia by
now wishes she had acknowledged Grand Duchess
Anastasia long ago,” the Count said. “But now there
seems to remain no other way out of the impasse except
for Anastasia to establish her identity through the
courts.”

I had to admit that the Count was probably right.
As for Anastasia’s friendship with Miss Jennings it
lasted for about a year. But eventually Anastasia — as
I had feared — began to quarrel with Miss Jennings
also. Unfortunately Miss Jennings’ love for the Grand
Duchess proved not quite as great as she had claimed
and she assumed a very unpleasant and in my opinion
unfair attitude.

Once more completely abandoned by everybody
Grand Duchess Anastasia went back to Germany in the
fall of 1931.

From Germany she wrote me a very kind letter, ask-
ing me to forget all our past differences and once more
assume charge of her affairs. In my answer I assured
Anastasia that those differences had never meant any-

[323]

SECRETS OF RUSSIAN ROYALTY

thing to me and that I would continue to fight for her
rehabilitation by all means available The only trouble
was that my earnings remained very small, so that I
still could not offer the Grand Duchess any financial
assistance, which was what she needed most at the time.

Luckily other friends came to her support Mrs von
Rathlef, the faithful Dr Rudnev, her German cousin,
Prince Ernst Frederick of Saxe Altenburg, and others
The Prince of Saxe Altenburg had been of particular
help to the Grand Duchess, in spite of the fact that he
IS also closely related to her German uncle and bitter
opponent, the Grand Duke of Hessen Darmstadt

She remains in Germany to this day

It might have been worse After her experiences m
the United States Grand Duchess Anastasia probably
deems herself lucky to be back in Germany

For the present, Anastasia does not appear to be in
any immediate danger the Grand Duke of Hessen
Darmstadt must have cither understood that she never
had any intention of causing him trouble, or else de
cided that his fight against her cost him too much
in money and reputation Besides, the new regime in
Germany has robbed the issues which seemed so acute
m 1927/ of all importance, and the German princes
and monarchists now have other things to worry about
than their wartime escapades and their hopes for the
restoration of monarchy

Be that as it may, neither the Grand Duke of Hessen
Darmstadt nor his talented representative, Gillard,
has been heard from for years, and the present Ger
man authorities have given no sign of any hostilrlj
tow ards Anastasia. She is also well taken care of finan

[314]

SECRETS OF RUSSIAN ROTALTY

daily and her health is at present in a ‘satisfactory con-
dition.

Yet her life remains an unrelieved nightmare, a mar-
tyrdom and will remain such until the world grants her
that minimum of human rights the least among us
possess, her true name and identity.

It would be so in the case of any of us placed in Anas-
tasia’s position. Who could be happy if forced to lead
the life of “an eternal question mark,” if branded with
the unbearable stigma of an impostor and a fraud?

Earlier in this book I have stated my conviction that
it is the issue of her full identity, of her inner integrity,
which stands foremost in Anastasia’s mind. That the
refusal of her relatives and the world in general de-
prives her of position and wealth is only an addi-
tional cause of her suffering — not the real source of it.
Yet it is a cause which cannot be altogether overlooked.
Anastasia would not be human were she able to forget
completely her Imperial heritage which to her, inci-
dentally, is as much a duty as a privilege.

It was during one of our many discussions of the
problem of her rehabilitation that I realised the full
extent of Grand Duchess Anastasia’s ambitions.

Arguing as so often she did that it was futile to try to
convince her relatives of her identity, Anastasia said :
“They do not have to be convinced, because they know
perfectly well who I am. But they are rebels — revolu-
tionaries! They had always opposed my father and
hated my mother and now they continue to fight against
me. What then do you expect to achieve by convincing
them of something they had never doubted? They
must be, not convinced, but forced to acknowledge me

[325]

SECRETS OF RUSSIAN ROYALTY

as the Head of the House of the Romanovs, which I am
— which they know me to be.”

I had long since realised that Anastasia was not the
meek and sentimental creature who could be happy
doing nothing except planting flowers and feeding
birds, as she had been pictured by some of her well-
wishers. She did like flowers and she did like birds,
but she was not the type of person to vegetate in idleness
and feel no desire for an active and purposeful exist-
ence. Even so the fact that she actually considered
herself the head of the House of Romanovs — which
could only mean that she also regarded herself as a can-
didate for the Russian throne — was a revelation to me.

At the same time I could not help reflecting how
characteristic it was of Grand Duchess Anastasia that,
unlike the other Romanov pretenders, she was not lay-
ing any direct claim to the title of Empress or forming
any shadow cabinets. All sham was organically repel-
lent to her. The only claim she did make, for the pres-
ent, was a perfectly sensible one — she maintained that
she was the Head of the House of Romanovs, and that
all Romanovs and the latters’ adherents had to acknowl-
edge her as such. It was a practical and politically
very shrewd attitude, for the House of Romanovs
still existed, still possessed considerable influence,
and the position of a Romanov whom all his rela-
tives would recognise as their leader would not be an
empty sinecure. At the same time, were the Romanovs
actually called back to rule Russiai the generally ac-
knowledged head of their family would automatically
ascend the throne. Nevertheless I permitted m>'self to
point out to the Grand Duchess that according to the

[326]

SECRETS OF RUSSIAN ROYALTY

Russian law of succession, female members of the
House of Romanovs ranked after all the male mem-
bers, so that every male Romanov, no matter how dis-
tantly related to the Emperor, was closer to the throne
than the Emperor’s o\%n daughters. In consequence,
even if fully acknowledged, Anastasia could not pre-
tend to the position of the head of the Romanov family,
because there were a great many male Romanovs still
living.

“I know all that,” Anastasia said. “But the law
was decreed only by Emperor Paul and for the sole
reason that he hated his mother, Catherine the Great;
and laws can be changed, you know. Russia has been
ruled by women often enough : Princess-Regent Sophia,
Empress Catherine the First, Empress Ann, Empress
Elisabeth, Catherine the Great. . . . Besides, who of
the male Romanovs, now living, has any clear claim to
the throne? Each of them has done something to dis-
qualify himself And the plain fact remains that I am
the only surviving child of'the last Russian Emperor!”

f 127]

SLCRETS OF RUSSIAN ROYALTY

as ilic Head of the House of the Romanovs, which I am
— which they know me to be ”

I had long since realised that Anastasia was not the
meek and sentimental creature who could be happy
doing nothing except planting flowers and feeding
birds, as she had been pictured by some of her well*
wishers She did like flowers and she did like birds,
but she was not the type of person to vegetate in idleness
and feel no desire for an active and purposeful exist
cnee Even so the fact that she actually considered
herself the head of the House of Romanovs — which
could only mean that she also regarded herself as a can-
didate for the Russian throne — was a revelation to me
At the same time I could not help reflecting how
characteristic it was of Grand Duchess Anastasia that,
unlike the other Romanov pretenders, she was not lay-
ing any direct claim to the title of Empress or forming
any shadow cabinets All sham was organically repel-
lent to her The only claim she did make, for the pres-
ent, was a perfectly sensible one — she maintained that
she was the Head of the House of Romanovs, and that
all Romanovs and the latters’ adherents had to acknowl-
edge her as such It was a practical and politically
very shrewd attitude, for the House of Romanovs
still existed, still possessed considerable influence,
and the position of a Romanov whom all his rela
lives would recognise as their leader would not be an
empty sinecure At the same time, were the Romanovs
actually called back to rule Russia, the generally ac-
knowledged head of their family would automatically
ascend the throne Nevertheless I permitted myself to
point out to the Grand Duchess that according to the

[ 326]

SECRETS OF RUSSIAN ROYALTT

Russian law of succession, female members of the
House of Romanovs ranked after all the male mem-
bers, so that every male Romanov, no matter how dis-
tantly related to the Emperor, was closer to the throne
than the Emperor’s own daughters In consequence,
even if fully acknowledged, Anastasia could not pre-
tend to the position of the head of the Romanov family,
because there were a great many male Romanovs still
living

“I know all that/’ Anastasia said “But the law
was decreed only by Emperor Paul and for the sole
reason that he hated his mother, Catherine the Great,
and laws can be changed, you know Russia has been
ruled by women often enough Princess Regent Sophia,
Empress Catherine the First, Empress Ann, Empress
Elisabeth, Catherine the Great Besides, who of
the male Romanovs, now living, has any clear claim to
the throne? Each of them has done something to dis-
qualify himself And the plain fact remains that I am
the only surviving child of ’the last Russian Emperor I”

INDEX

ALAPAEVSK, 102
Alexander (Emperor Alexander III
o{ Eussia), loj

Alexander, Grand Duke of Russia,

S, 108, 169, 28s, 321
Alexandra, Empress of Russia (s>rife
of Nicholas I), 300
Alexandra, Empress of Russia (wife
of Nicholas II), 21, 27, 33, 33,
46-7, 72. 89, 121, i93i 203, 281, 313,

3»7

Alexei, 2( (Sef Cearttrtc/i AUxtt,

0/ NirAelar ll)

"Alexei,'' los
“AlexeieT," co^

"AUxeievich," 106

Alexis, CeareTieh (Son of Nicholas
II), at 2, 3S

Alexis, Caarevich (Son of Peter the
Great), 30S'3
America, 57, $0
American Consul, 75, 133
American Consul In Munich, *nie,
*4*

Americans, s8< t2i< *52
Anastasia, Grand Duchess of Russia
(THE WOMAN WHO ROSE
AGAIN), 7 10, 17, x8, 21-8, 3s-
86, 88 97, 99-ssUr *22-30, 132-Ji,
133-89, 191-234. 236-327
"Anastasia Nikolaeva Alexande-
teva," 105 (Sit Grand Duchtu
Anastasia)

"Anastasia Nikolaeva Alexandrova,**
SOS (See Grand Duchtst Anasta-
sia)

Anastasia Nikolaevna, 32, 178, 208,
2*7. 233, 249 f^re Grand Dssehtss
Anastasia)

Anderson, Mrs^ 275 (See Grand
DurAett ^narfoeta)

Andrew, Grand Duke of Russia, ttt,
12$, 131, 168, 2i6 S

Anglo-Interoational Bank, 304
Anhah-Zcrbst, Prince von, 304-5
Ann, Empress of Russia, 327
Associated Press, The, 23*1 285
"A TV 119 (See Grand Duchess
Anastasia)

Auchincloss. Hugh D, 15^
Auchincloss, Mrs, 230, 280 (Sr#
Morse, daughter of Mrs Derftl-
den)

Author’s Father, The (Dr. Eugene
Bothss). J7, 20-1, 24, 26-8, 34-5,
54, S6. 96. 309

Author's Sister, The (Mrs Tatiana
Melnik), 3J, 48. Sh 78. 9 o, 214, 3»9

BANK OF ENGLAND, THE, 96,
132, aeo-2-3, 220, 222, 224, 23s, 334,
237, 239-42, 247. 251, 257, 279.80,
284, 290, 322-3
Bark, M Peter, 204
Beauhatnait, Eugene de, Duke of
Leuehteoberg, 64
Berestgarta, The, >57 9, 163, 165
Berg, Prof Ludtvig, lox
Berlin, 38, 40 2, 44, 67, 71, 75, 84-5,
92, 97, >05-6; 112, Jij, 137, 202,
203, 217, 290, 294, 297
Bolsheviks, llie, 38, 69, 94, 100, 102,
so6, 110, 125
Boston, 174

Botkin, Dimitriy (author’s brother),
20

Botkin, Gleb, 28, 32, 195, 209, 239,
245. 3«8

Botkin, Peter (author’s uncle), 127 8,
*43. 2*5-6

Botkin, Sergius (author's cousin), 8
76-7, 81-2, 94.J, r22, 128, 142
Botkin, Victor (author’s uncle), 100
Brest Litovsk, 'ITie Treaty of, 69
Bridgeport, 218
British Courts, The, 99

[ 319 ]

INDEX

Brooz, Tlse, >74
Bucharest, 37, 103-5,

Buxhoeveden, Baroness tod , 34, 39,
282

CATHERINE I, EMPRESS OP
RUSSIA, 327

Catherine 11, The Great, Empress
of Russia, 304-6, 327
Chaliapine, 152

Children of the Emperor, The, ao,
26, 28, 73

Children of the Soverei^s, The, 19,
21, 47 (Ste thUdren ef tht Em-
peror)

Cbofcolov, S. M., 104
Christopher, Prince of Greece, 133*9,
>43

Civil War, The (Russian), 94
Cold Spring Harbor, 155
Colter, John R., 263, 265
Colters, The, 265-6, 270
Connecticut, 218-9
Copenhageo, 39

Court, llte Imperial (Russian), 28,
33> a$9. 31$

Crimea, The, 31

Cyril, Grand Duke of Russia, 43, tiy,
127-8, 131, 262, 283
Cxar, The, 114 (Sit Nicholas II)
Cxarevicb, The, 21, 26, xS, 35 (Ste
Ceanvlch Alexis, son of Nicholas

It)

Czarskoe Selo, 52, 206

DALLDORF, 38-40, 93, 105, 208
Danish Christmas, The, 98
Dassel, Felix, 250
Derfelden, Christopher, 129
Derfelden, Mrs. Margharita, 229-
30, 148, 133-7, 166, 171-2, >89,
196, 203, 209, 211-4, ziS-zi, 223-6,
228-30, 232, 234, 236, 263, 278, 280,
320-2

Dimitriy, Prince, 229

Dimitriy, Duke of Leuchteoberg, 69

Dolgoroukov, Prince, 33

EDWARD VII, KING OF ENG-
LAND, 150

1 330]

Eitel, Dr. Theodor, 45, tii
Ekaterinburg, 7, 35, 37, 101-4,

109, 141, 100, 203, 210, 223, 281,
293, 296-7

Elisabeth, Empress of Russia, 304,
jtr

Emperor's Family, The, 102, 184-3
Emperor's Guard, The, 74
England, 41, 36, 96, it6, 169, 201-2,
2x1, 223, 231, 239

English Language, The, 21, 39'6>i
*5. >J«t «f*. >*7. »>o»

Europe, 119-20, 124, 126, 135,

155, 168, 211, 218, 243, 250, 232,
259, 267, 280, 286, 301

FALLOWS, IION. EDWARD H,
221-4, *3*. 266-71. 276
PallovTs, Bishop Samuel, 221
Federal Congress, The, 39
Finland, 8o>t, 114. >>6. 3>o
First Empire, The, 63, 299
Foley, Mr., 137*67. i65» >67-#, 180
France, 213 . ^

Frederick the Great, King of Prus-
sia, 30**S „ . ,

Prederiek William, Crown Prince of
Germany, 46, 37*6
French Language, The, 274*5

GALITTIN. PRINCE, 307
CaMacher, Miss Agnes, »34. *60.
i6?-7

Garden City, 276, 291. 3«*i 3*0
Garden City Hotel, 273. 299
George I, King of Greece, 134
George V, King of England, 193.
George, Grand Duke of Russia, tjo
German High Command, The, 4*
German Language, The, 40. 59. 6s*5.

134, 187. 273. *76, 312
Germany, 38, 42-3. S6, 69, 70, 77. >>3.
116, 135. >42, 147. 154. >99. *‘’7.
284, 293. 309. 3»3*4
Giilard, M., fi, 44. 35. 7®. *5. ***
94. 99. >09. >24-5. »*7. *3®'

274, xBj, 293, 298, 305. 3®». J’°‘

J**

Giilard, Mme., 41. 9°. 9®

Giilards, The, 42

INDEX

GorshVoT, too

Grand Duchesses, The, 17*8, lo-a,
i7t 29'3>. 34-S. ♦«. 72*3. «o**

131 (See children of the Emperor)
Greek Catholic Church, The, ag?

Greek Royal Family, liic, 134
Greeks, The, 18
Gregorian Children, The, 103
Gregorian, Sarsho, 103
Gruenherg, Police Commissioner, Dr ,
10$ 6, 137, igg, 208

HANOVER, ANZEIGER, 101
HanoTer, Dnke of, 301
Harvard Club, The, 174
Helen, Princess of Russia, 10a
Hempstead, 133, 148, 175, 275
Henry, Princess of Prussia, 113 (See
Prtnteii Irene of Pruttia)

Hfroua, Lieut'GeOn 103
Hessen Darmstadt, 44, 7$, 92, 2$o
Hessen-Darmstadr, Grand Duke
Ernst Ludwig of, 4S«4, dy, 76, 84,
86*7, 92, 94, 96, 99, ltd, 132, 148*7,
*7*. 3/0. 3*4
Hewlett, 174, 179
HoSmann, General, 68-9
Heheneollerns, The, $6

IMMIGRATION ADTHORlTIES,
THE, 144, i/S. «S7
Immigration Inspeetor, The, idi-z
IminigratioQ Inspectors, The, ijy,
»59. tfit

Imperial Family, The (Russian), 19,
22, 45 6, 49. S3, d9, 78, 81, 89,
93, 100-2, io 6-7, 109, sis, siS, 13©,
t33, 139 40, 144. 233*4. 242*6.

iSi 4, 270, 274 5, 283, 304 6, 321
Imperial German Government, The,
*1

Imperial Palace, The, 78
Imperial Residence, The, 33, $2
Imperial Yacht, The, a6 7
Inspector of the Berlin Police, The
8S. 87

Irene, Princess of Prussia, 38-40, zo8
(See Frtnetss Henry of Pnijiia)
Italy, 13$ 8
“iTtn," loj

**Ivan Alexei," 10$, 107
Ivan the Terrible, Czar of Russia,
244. »9». Jt7

JAPAN, 98

Jennings, Miss Annie tS5~7t

166-7, 174-S, «77» *79-80, 183, 18s,

191-8, 20$, zto, 2t8*9, 248, 2$2,
2S4, *90, 3*8-3*. 323
Jewish Empire, The, 126
Jewish Kingdom, The, 126
Jewish-Masosic Supcr-Governmen^
126 7

John, Prince of Russia, 102
Judea, 126

KANSAS, 39

Kelsey, Cadwallader W. (Carl),
*57. *67, 169, 222-3
Knopf. Detective, 44. 87. 78, 8$*6,

92

Kolchak, Admiral, $7
Komarov, Sergei, 101
Kreisler, Mrs Fritz, 138
Kulikorsky, Mr,, 178
Kulikovsky, Mrs, 178 (See Grand
Duchess Olga, sister of Nicholas

It)

LAND^VEHR CANAL, THE, 38. 84
Latin Characters, 10$, 271, 273-4
Latin (mnsic), 306
Leeds, Mrs (mother of William B
Leeds), 134

Leeds, Mrs (wife of William B
Leeds), 146, 162 (See Princess
Xenttt)

Leeds, The, 133, 179, 207, 223, 235-6,
254

Leed^, WiBism B, ijo, 374, 34J,
•9«'3. *97. *24. 226. 231 2, 236-8,
241-2, 24$-8, 237-9, 268, 270
Leuchtenbcrg, Duchess of, 47 g, 6$ 8,
70. 78 7, 79. 98

Leuchtenberg, Dukes and Duchesses
of, 64

Leuchtenberg Family, The, $0, $2,
70

Leuchtenberg, Prince George Roma-

[331 ]

INDEX

Bronx, Tlie, 174
Bucharest, 37, io3>$, 112
Buzhoeveden, Baroaeis tgh, 34, 39i
282

CATHERINE I, EMPRESS OF
RUSSIA, 327

Catherine 11, The Great, Etopreis
of Russia, 304-6, 327
Chahapioe, 152

Children of the Emperor, The, 20,
26, 28, 73

Children of the SoTereigns, The, 19,
21, 47 (Set thtldrtn of the Em-
feror)

Cbokolor, S M, 104
Christopher, Prince of Greece, 133*9,
143

Civil War, The (Russian), 94
Cold Spring Harbor, 133
Colter, John R, 263, 263
Colters, The, 263-6, 270
Connecticut, 218*9
Copenhagen, 39

Court, The Imperial (Russian), 28,
33> >69, 313
Crimea, The, 31

Cyril, Grand Duke of Russia, 43, tty,
say 8, 132, 262, 283
Cxar, The, 114 (See Stcholett II)
Czarevich, The, 2s, 16, 28, 33 (See
Cearevieh Alexis, son of Nicholas
II)

Czarskoe Selo, 52, 206

DALLDORP, 38-40, 93, 103, 208
Danish Christmas, The, 98
Dassel, Felix, 250
Derfelden, Christopher, 129
Derfelden, Mrs Margbarita, 129-
30, 148, 133-7, 166, lyt-a, 189,
196, 203, 209, 2II-4, 218 21, 223 6,
228 30, 232, 234, 236, 263, 278, 280,
320-2

Dimitriy, Prince, 219

Dimuriy, Duke of Leuebeenberg, 69

Dolgoroukov, Prince, 33

EDWARD VII, KING OF ENG-
LAND, 130

1 330]

Eltet, Dr. Theodor, 43, in
Ekaterinburg, 7, 33, 37. ioi-4i 106-7,
109, 141, 200, 203, 210, 223, 281,

293, »96-7

Elisabeth, Empress of Russia, 304,

Emperor's Family, The, 102, 184-S
Emperor's Guard, The, 74
England, 4s, 36, 96, 116, 169, 2oi-2i
221, 223, 23s, 239

English Language, The, 21, 39*4*1
8S, 131. «S4i 1*7. *71*5

Europe, 119-20, 124, 126, i3J. »46'7i

133, *68. 44S. *!«»■ *6*'

139, 267, 280, 28S, 30t

FALLOWS, HON EDWARD H,
221*4, 43*r 266-72, 276
Fallows, Bishop Samuel, an
Federal Congtesi, The, 39
Fioland, 80*1, n4> 1*81 3*9
First Empire, The, 63, 299
Foley, Mr, 137831 *85i *87'*.
France, 213 , _

Frederick the Great, King of «»*■
sia, 304-3 _ f

Frederick William, Crown Prince ot
Germany, 46, 33 8
French Language, The, 274*6

GALITZIN, PRINCE, 303
Gallacher, Miss Agnes. iS4. *®9«
163 7

Garden City, 276, 29». 3*8.

Garden City Hotel, 273. *99
George I, King of Greece. i34
George V, King of England, 193. *4®
George. Grand Duke of Russia, 130
German High Command, The, 4*
German Language, The, 4». S9> 84-5*
134. «87, *73. *78. 3«*

Germany, 38, 4»-3. S8. 89. 7<>. 77. "J’
si6. 133. *4*. *47. «S4. *99. *'»7.
284. 293, 309, 3*3*4 „

Gillard, M, 4«. 44. SS. 78. *f' **
94. 99. *09, *»4*3. **7. '36. **7.
27*. 283, 293. *98. 303. 30*. 3 .

Gillard, Mme., 4>i 90. 98
Gillards, The, 42

INDEX

GonhkoT, joo

Grand Duchesses, The, 17-8,

*7i *9-3«. H'S.

1 JI fSre fAildren e/ iht Eru^iror^
Greek Catholic Church, The, 297
Greek Royal Family, The, 134
Greeks, The, 18
Gregorian Children, The, 103
Gregorian, Saraho, 103
Groenberg, Police Commissioner, Dr^
>05 6, 137, 199, 208

HANOVER, ANZEIGER, tor
HanoTer, Duke of, 301
Harvard Club, The, 174
Helen, Princess of Russia, toi
Hempstead, 133, 148, 179, 275
Henry, Princess of Prussia, 113 (See
Pfinerrr /re«< of Prussia)

Hfroua, Lieut, Gen., 103
Hessen Darmstadt, 44, 73. 92. 250
Hesseo'Darmstadt, Grand Duke
Ernst Ludwig of, 41-4, 67, 76, 84*
86*7, 92. 94. 96, 99. ti6, 13a, t46*7«
17*, 230, 324
Hewlett, 174. 179
HoSmaon, General, 68*9
Hohenaollerns, The, j6

“Ivan Alexei,*’ *03, »o7
Ivan the Terrible, Cxar of Russia,
244, 291, S»7

JAPAN, 9*

Jenamgs, Mil* Annie

166-7, »74'5» 277i 279-80. *83, 185,
191-8, 20s, 210, *18-9, 248, 252,
254, 290, 328 21, 323
Jewish Empire, Tbe, 226
Jewish Kingdom, The, >26
Jewish-Masontc Super-Government,
126-7

John, Prince of Russia, 102
Judea, 126

KANSAS, 59

Kelsey, Cadwallader W. (Carl),
2$7, 267. 169, 222-3
Knopf, Detective, 44, 67, 78, 83*6,
92

Kolchak, Admiral, $7
Komarov, Sergei, so*

Kreister, Mrs Pritx, 138
KolikoTsky, Mr,, 178
Kulikovsky, Mrs, 178 (Set Grand
Duehtss Olga, sister e/ Nicholas
tt)

IMMIGRATION AUTHORITIES,
THE, 144, 135. «37
Immigration Inspector, The, 161-2
Immigration Inspectors, The, 137,
159, 161

Imperial Family, The (Russian), 19,
22, 43 6, 49, 53, 69, 78, 81, 89,
93, 100-2, 106-7, 109. 123, iz8, S30,
«33. *39 40. «44. 233-4, 242 6,
261-4. 270, 274 5, 283, 304-6, 311
Imperial German Government, The,
4*

Imperial Palace, The, 78
Imperial Residence, The, 33, 52
Imperial Yacht, The, 26 7
Inspector of the Berlin Police, The,
8S. 87

Irene, Princess of Prussia, 38-40, to8
(See Prtneets Henrj cf Prtssssa}
Italy, rjs 8
“Ivan,” 105

LANDWEHR CANAL, THE, 38, 84
Latin Characters, loS, a?!, 273-4
Latin (mosic), 306
Leeds, Mrs (mother of William B
Leeds), ij^

Leeds, Mrs (wife of William B
1,6. .6! (S„ Prwie,,

Xenia)

Leeds, The, 133, 179, 107, 223, 233 5,

Leeds. WiUiam B, 130, ,,4, ,45^
* 9 «*J, 197 , 224 . 826, 231-2, 236 s!
241-2. 245-8, 257 9, 268, 270

Duk„ ,nd

l^chnnb.tE Fam,!,, Tht,

Pr.„„ g„,e,

INDEX

Borsky Duke of 37 44 ; 48 so
S3 fi4 70 87

Leuchtenbergi The 47 $0 64 s ^9
70 8j 85 127 142 147 138 271,
29+

LexiDgtoQ Avenue 263 26s
L (tie One The 18 36 4$ 47 8
52 3 66 8 70 76 7 83 127 140
>59 i6j 166 178 181 206 211
3t2 (See Grand Duthtte Anas
tat a)

X. nie Pt ncess The 32 51 (Set

Grand Dueken Anastatia)

T ttle Xeo 2 The 130 140 (See
Prxncett Xen a)

London 222 224 240

Long IsUnd 191

Lou le Queen of Pniis a 300

Louvre The 176 7

Lucke Dr 86 >46 8

MARIE (DAUGHTER OF MRS
DERFELdEN) 155 (See Mn
Aaeh neloit)

Mar e Dowager Cnipre>$ of Rum a
39 41 ^6 134 140 I 155 *7* >89
XO5 21$ 281 3

Mar e Grand Ducheo of Rua« a
(eout n of N ehoUi II) >78
320 2

Mane Grand Duchen of Rust a
(daughter of N cholat II) 17 24
26 7 33 35 loi 273
Mary Queen of England 134
Metier Zakomeltky Baron 48 69
Metier Zakomelsky BaroneM 48
SI 3 s6 si 60-1 66 71 73 5 79
81

Mendelsohn Bank The 290
Mein k Mr* 114 (See author's it
ter)

M chael Grand Duke of Russ a
no 293

•M ghty Ru*s a The iia
M Iford Haven Dowager March 00
eas of III

M n stry of War Edueat onal De
partment of 29

“M shkev eh from Petrograd, 107
M shkev eh N chotas 107

[332]

Miahkev cb Stanislav 107

Misi ng Persons Bureau of Berl 0

91

Mommsen Sanatorium tii
Mona L la 175 7
Myiter ous Foley The” >68 (See
Mr Felef)

‘Myster oui Mr* Ticha kovsky
The 158 (See Grand Ducheit
Anastasia)

SADEJDA (author’s w fe) 27l

Nad ne (authors w fe) 17I

Napoleon 64

Natson The 165

Navy of the Guard The 73

New York 120 123 t26 ift >57

167 >74 179 So *69 3«*

Ne*o York Herald Tr bune The

147 8 ij« * «68
Hevt York T met The 157 *«8
NeiJ York IForld Tie >58
Nicholas I Emperor of Rusi a 64 J

N chola* II Emperor of Ru** a 17
21 a 41 43 46 14 73 78 9* M
105 top 10 is6 143 *8® 3
198 2o> 3 264. >69 a8i a 29®
303 3*6 3»7 3*7 , „

Ncholai Grand Duke of Russ a
128 62 _ ,

N cholas M cha lov ch Grand Duke
of Russ a 303
N cholas Dudley 158*9 184
N k ” ai 2 (See N cholas II)

N na * * er of Pr ncei* Xen a >43

Nobel Dr Lothar in
NobI ty The 54 5
Nooney Ann 265 270
NoUty The 27a

ERSDORF in

ilensky Pr nee 128

;a Grand Duchess of Russia

Olga Grand Duchess of Russ a (s s
ter of N cholas II) 39
115 7 >3* >JS *88 178 2®^

INDEX

ZI9-2I, 227, 2J2| 240* *4S»

zSo, 282-4

Olga, Queen of Greece, 134
Ojfea-Sacken-Tettenborn, Baron tod
der, 94*5

Oyster Bay, ijo, J32, 1341 *37» *4®»
t42-3. ISS. *74i 179. »87.

209, 2it-2, Z15, 218 9, 232, 236,

248, 256, 266, 275-6
Oyster Bay Postoffice, 226

“PAPA," 34 (Ste Nithfilai II)

Park ATenue, t66, 274, 179
Paris, 58, 70, 94-s, 118, t68, 217
Paul, Emperor of Russia, 306, 327
Perm, loz

Peter 1, King of Serbia, toi
Peter tbe Great, Emperor of Russia,
*44. 30**J. 3«7

Peter the Third, Emperor of Russia,
306

Petrov, Teacher, a8-jo
Petrograd, 105, 107
Peuthert, Miss, 105-6
“Philistines, The Uncuous Prater-
mty of," 197

PiatakoT, Commissar, tot
Police 0! Berlin, The, 92
Polish Dialect, 85
Polish Language, The, 85
'Tompon," 29-31 (Stt Ttachtr Pet-
rev)

PoutiatiD, Prince, 178
Foutiatin, Princess, 178 (Ste Grand
Duehest Mane, eeuitn of Ktehelas

w

Prelude C sharp minor, 152
Prince of Denmark, 134 (See Pnnee
Ckrtslopker)

Protoeeli e) ike JPue Men ef Zton,
The, 126

RACHMANINOPF, MRS, 155
Rachmaninoff, Sergei Vassthcndi,
sSt-2, 157, i6t, s8o 6, 200, 348, 35*,
254. 256, 275, 287^

Rasputio, tt;

Rathlef Kellmann, Mrs, von, 42, 44,
76, 84, 87, 89-91, 93-4, 97 *1 100,

102, 104, IIS. »»*. *36. »46*7. *7«»
199, 216, 292-4^ 324
Red Army, The, 102-3
Red Soldiers, The, 106-7
Repnma, Princess, 48 (See Ducheis
*/ Leuchlenheff)

Revolution, The, 7»-3. 77. »29*3o.

151, |8o,«2IO, 243, 317
Richard, Mr. (Gus), 174. *75
Richard, Mrs Hetty, 157, 166, 275
Richards, The, 174. i79. *75*6. 289.
309

Roman Catholic Church, The, 38
Romanov, Anastasia, 102
Romanov Dynasty, The, 243
Romanov Family, The, 244 (See Im-
perial Famtly)

Romanovs, The, 56, 117, 306, 326-7
(See Imperial Famtly)

Romanovs, The House of, 326-7
Romanovsiey, Duke Maximilian of
Leuchtenberg, Prince, 64
Roosevelt, President Theodore, 221
Rostislav, Prince, 229
Roumama, 104, 106, 207
Roumanian Frontier, The, 37, 103
Roumanian Language, The, 105
Roumanian Ministry of War, The,
105 •

Royal Circles, The, 171
Royal Personages, 151
Royal Princess, 46 (See Grand

Duchest Anaitaua)

Royalty, 43, 46. SS-6, 141, 150, 156,
I7I-2, 190, 246, 287, 296
Rudnev, Professor, Dr, 45, 91, 97-8,
no, 114, 115, 324

Ruprecht, Crown Prince of Bavaria
68 ’
Ruasiji, 42-y, isj, eaf, cte,

116-7, 120, 128, 130, 147, 182, 201,

*08, 2II, 243-4, 261 3, 305, 326-7
Russian Christmas, The, 98
Russian Court, The, 58, 274
Russian Emperor, The, 32, 77,

*So> 231, 241, 327 ’

Russian Emperors, 32
Russian Empire, ’iTie, 17 34
Rmi.in Lsnen.Et, Tl,,'

INDEX

8;, 105, 1)1, 13;, t;4, (86, zio-i,
27«i *7J. 3«o*»

Russiin Mooarchi’sti, The, $7, 78,
117, 174, 230

Russian Monarchy, The. S7
Russian Refugees, The, {6, 78, 131,
iSi-2, 281

Russian Royalty, The, 46, 69

SAATilOF, DR., iis

Saint Voevoda, Street of, 104*$

Saltykov, 306

Saxe-Altenburg, Prince Ernst Fred-
erick of, 324

Schanalovska, Prancisca, 37, 44, 67,
7ii 84-8, 90, 9a*4. >46
SchiY«r<e, Mme, 276
Schwafaes, The, 199
Sebastopol, Bay of, 27
Secretary of Labor, 133
Seeon Castle, 37. 44. 4«*7. 49. J9.
83. 7^1. 83, 8), 96, 139, 179, tSt,
*87, aij, 250, 311
SehaBzkovsky, Felix, 86
Sthtrl VirUf, 86, 87
Siberia, 33, 33-4. 57. 78, 9«. »««. »»3.
103, 109, 203

Sisters of Grand Duchess Anastasia,
t8, 21-3, 33, 72, 201
Sokolov, too, 293
Sokolov's Investigation, The, 294
Sonnenseheln, Dr, 136-7
Son of Grand Duchess Anastasia,

38. 83

Sophie, Princess-Regent of Russia.
3*7

Sovereigns, The, 34-5, 47. 56 7, 78,
10S, 127, 210, 213, 234. 239, 274.
293 (Ste Nteholai II and htt vnf*
Emprett Alexandra}

Spengruber, Fritz, 86
Stanislav, 103-4, ie6 (See Alexander
Techatkovsky)

Siarkov, Ivan Alezeievich, 107
State Legislatures, 59
Stillachhaus Nursing Home, The, ssi
Strojan, Commissioner A, 104
Svente Voevoci, Lane of, 105
Svritzerland, 93, J27

[334]

TAGLICHE RUNDSCHAU, DIE,
86, 147

Tamara, Duchess of Leuchtenberg,

83

“Tania," 72 (See aatkor*j Jtsler)
Tatiana, 72 (See aothor’t titter)
Tatiana, Grand Duchess of Russia,
17. at. 39. lot

Tie Ced ll'ko Didn't Laugh, J29
The Real Ramanovi, 9
“Tie Woman Who Rose Again," 38
Times Square, 179
Tobolsk, 34-3, 2ot
Tolstoy, Mrs Zinaida, 39
Tschaikoviky, Alexander, 37-8, so4>
107, ti2, 178, 207, 294 (See Slanti'-
lav)

Tschaikovsky, Mrs Anastasia, 7*>^>
39. 46. 5». 55. 77. 90-». «05.
tt4-5. 120-t, 123, 127-9, >44. >53.
i6o-t, 168-9, >77 8. »3t. *75i *82-3,
288-9 Grand Duehett Anat'
tatia)

Tschaikovsky, Sergei, 37’8. «e8, ao8
Tschaikovik^, The, 37*8, 104

UNITED STATES, THE, 53. 57 *.
73, 119-20, (23-4, 126-7, 129-30.
>33. >4>*3. >47. >55. »>7. *37. *70,
284

Unknown, Miss, 39, 93, 216 (See
Grand Duehett Anaitaiia)
Unknown, Mrs, 93 (See Grand
Duehett Anaitaiia)

VOELLER, DR, 84-6, 92

WALDEMAR, PRINCE OF DEN-
MARK, 41, 282
Wales. Prioee of, 46
Washington, 144. ajo. 284, aS6
Waiserburg, 30
WasserKleben, Agnes, 86
West Indies, The, 153 6, 184, 186,

^Vhite Movement, The, j?

Whites, The, 100
White Troops, The, 128
WiHiam II, Emperor of Germany,
54-5. «S0

INDEX

"Willie,” 12 (See tFilliam II)
WicgcDder, Mrs^ 90
World War, TTie, 68
Wypyrizock, Mrs^ 90

XENIA, GRAND DDCHESS OF
RUSSIA, 43, 96, 99, 108, tiS-7,
130, 232, 143, 1G8-9, 202, 204, 219-
21, 224-7, *37* *45/

260-1, 277, 280, 281-9, 321-3
Xenia, Fiinceis of Ruiiia, 129-4$,
*47-5*1 *S3-8 i ***• *64, 171-2,

184-9, *9*» *9®-7r 2oS‘**»
2i8-ii, 224-9. 23*-4 , 235-46.
2$i-63, 266-8, 270, 276-80,
3*S» 3**. 321-2 (See Mrs.
v.tfe of IFilltam D. Leeds)

VAKIMOV, 100

YooroTsky, 295

Youssoopov, Prince Felit, ii'

Stt

ZAHLE, AMBASSADOR, 41,
9*. 95-6, 98, 114,-137, 202, :

PrtftSed

214-6,

248-9,

291-2,

Leeds,

44. 89,
203